Sirsa/Fatehabad, July 31
Government procurement agencies are likely to remain well short of their targets in the purchase of paddy in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts this year because of disinclination of the farmers to opt for “parmal”, the variety of paddy purchased by the government for its central pool.

Better returns from the “muchhal” paddy, called duplicate basmati in common parlance, have tempted more and more farmers to opt for this variety this year.

The shift is to such an extent that while earlier almost 75 per cent of the total paddy sowed in these two districts used to be the parmal variety, it has come down to almost 25 per cent now.

“I planted the parmal variety in my fields last year while my neighbour Jagmeet Singh opted for muchhal. While I got a price of Rs 750 per quintal for my produce, Jagmeet’s crop fetched him a rate of Rs 2,200,” said Joginder Singh, a farmer from Jeewan Nagar village of Sirsa district while talking to The Tribune.

“This year, I have planted the muchhal variety on 30 acres and I am hoping to cover last year’s deficit this time,” he added.

Vijay Mehta, a progressive farmer from Alika village in Fatehabad district, said the price of the muchhal variety hovered between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,200 earlier.

However, it witnessed a sudden spurt in rates last year, when it fetched farmers between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,400, he added.

The MSP of parmal on the other hand was Rs 750 only last year, while it was Rs 850 now, Mehta said.

“Last year more than 75 per cent farmers from Alika and the surrounding areas had planted the parmal variety. However, looking into the experience of last year, a majority of the farmers have opted for the muchhal and basmati varieties this year,” Mehta said.

“In Sirsa district, paddy has been planted on about 52,000 hectares. Of this, not more than 20,000 hectares have the parmal variety while the rest of the land has the muchhal or “Pusa” basmati this year,” said Rajinder Singh, a technical assistant in the agriculture department, Sirsa.

“In contrast, the parmal variety was planted on around 40,000 hectares last year,” he added.

In Fatehabad district, the position is even worse, where of the 78,000 hectares on which paddy has been planted, the parmal variety is on less than 20,000 hectares, according to deputy director, agriculture, Ravi Singh Poonia.

Sirsa, July 31
A recent police action of conducting raids at houses of some Dabwali residents in connection with the death of Harminder Singh, who was killed in an altercation between the Dera Sacha Sauda and Sikhs on July 18, has caused resentment among local residents.

They have alleged that the police has been harassing innocent persons, who are neither connected with the Dera Sacha Sauda nor with Sikh organisations. They are being picked by the police only because their houses are situated near the house of Sunder Dass Mehta, who organised naam charcha on the fateful day.

However, the police maintained that no innocent person would be booked and it was only verifying the involvement of certain persons on the basis of the disclosure statement of Mehta.

A meeting of some prominent residents of Dabwali was held in the Annapoorna mandir last evening.

Former municipal councilor Lovely Mehta raised questions over the method being adopted by the police in this case.

“The police has a list of 39 persons, which they claim has been given to them by Sunder Dass Mehta. The police has been picking persons on the basis of that list without confirming whether these persons were present on the site of crime or not,” said Lovely Mehta while talking to The Tribune.

He said houses of most of these persons were situated near Sunder Mehta’s house.

“The police yesterday picked Sansar Chand, Ramesh Mehta, Prabh Dayal Mehta, Purshotam Grover and Veer Bhan. They were let off only after a large number of locals met the SHO. We have met SDM Subhash Gaba and submitted a memorandum to him,” said the former municipal councilor.

Sirsa SP K.V. Ramana, however, said the police had no intention of harassing any innocent person.

“The police is just doing its investigation and is verifying the involvement of persons whose names have been provided to them by the person who organised the naam charcha on July 18,” said Ramana.

Sirsa, July 31
Pest specialists of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, have submitted a detailed report on the damage caused to Kharif crops by various pests in Fatehabad and Sirsa districts to senior officers of the university and the agriculture department.

The Tribune had today published a story “Mealy bug may hit cotton production in Sirsa, Fateahabad” in which it was mentioned that over 75 per cent cotton crops in these districts had been affected by the mealy bug.

The pest specialists of the university had admitted in their report that 82 per cent crops had been affected due to mealy bug and it might increase if current weather conditions persisted.

A spokesman for the university said incidences of leafhopper had been found in 23 per cent of the fields, whereas the incidence of white fly was negligible.

Bollworm had caused no harm to BT cotton as well as other varieties of cotton, he added.

Most of the farmers were aware of the incidence of this pest and they were taking appropriate steps to check the menace of the bug, he added.

Agriculture scientists of the university had advised the farmers to uproot the plants and weeds affected by the mealy bug and burn them, besides spraying pesticides on the crops, the spokesman said, adding that regular monitoring of crops, fields, paths and water courses should be ensured to get first hand information regarding the incidence of pests.

Kurukshetra, July 31
The age-old belief that the benefits of performing 100 “ashwamedha yajnas” can been reaped simply by taking a dip in the holy waters of the Brahmsarovar and the Sannihit Sarovar during a solar eclipse draws lakhs to the city even today. Pilgrims in huge numbers could be seen arriving in the religious city to take the holy bath during the solar eclipse that occurs tomorrow.

Sadhus and devotees, chanting religious prayers, kept thronging the city all through the day.

According to religious heads, the bath in the holy sarovars has a sacred association with the solar eclipse.

The place had been a centre of pilgrimage during the vedic civilisation and later it became popularly known as the battlefield of the Mahabharata.

The fact that Lord Krishna delivered the sermon to Arjuna here makes it more scared for lakhs of devotees across the world.

The tradition of taking a holy dip at the Brahmsarovar has been there since ages.

As per Hindu mythology, the city is situated on the central line of the universe and this generates more conviction among the followers to arrive here during the solar eclipse.

Kurukshetra is considered as one of the supreme “teerathas” for a pilgrimage during the solar eclipse period, as a holy dip here during this time is considered significant for attaining “moksha” (salvation).

Chandigarh, July 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants that the power to suspend conviction should to be exercised ‘sparingly’, particularly in cases of heinous offences. It means the guilty will continue to remain disqualified from enjoying certain benefits, privileges and rights, such as contesting elections during the pendency of the appeal, if the conviction is not suspended.

After an accused is held guilty, he is convicted and sentenced by the court concerned. The appellant court, even in serious matters, has the powers to suspend the sentence, which means the accused will not go behind bars. The suspension of conviction, on the other hand, removes the disqualification, if any, that entails the order of the guilt by the first court.

In a significant judgment on the issue, the Division Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rajan Gupta have ruled: “We are of the view that in heinous crimes, such as murder, the parameters to consider an application for the suspension of conviction ought to be stricter and more rigorous.”

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Gupta further ruled: “There is a clear-cut distinction between the suspension of sentence and the suspension of conviction. The standards for the latter are totally different, as the two stand on different footing … A person convicted for a serious crime is kept under the disability of conviction during the pendency of the appeal. All his pleas of having been wrongly held guilty and convicted cannot be gone into in an application under Section 389 of the CrPC (for the suspension of conviction).”

Turning down the plea for the suspension of conviction filed by a murder convict, 52-year-old Shishu Pal of Ambala district, Justice Gupta asserted: “We are unable to accept the contention of the counsel, as the power under Section 389 CrPC to suspend the conviction during the pendency of the appeal is to be exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances.”

Before parting with the orders, the Bench added: “Though it has been well settled by now by various judgments pronounced that this court has powers under Section 389 of the CrPC to stay the conviction during the pendency of appeal, the law is clear on the point that it can be resorted to only in rare and exceptional cases, depending upon special facts of a case.”

Chandigarh, July 31
The high court wants Haryana to take care of cows in gaushalas across the state. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover directed the state to sanction daily amount of Rs 15 per cow to the gaushalas.

For ensuring smooth implementation of the high court directions, the Bench also appointed retired district judge Babu Ram Gupta as court commissioner. He would oversee proper implementation of court orders.

The high court order says the court commissioner would carry out the inspection of the gaushalas. For the purpose, he would be provided with a vehicle by the state government.

The ruling came on a petition filed a registered society, Lok Pratham. It had sought directions to the state to release grant-in-aid to gaushalas to save cows on the brink of starvation.

The society had stated that in an identical petition, the Delhi High Court had issued directions to the authorities concerned, including Delhi Municipal Corporation, to release an interim aid of Rs 25 per cattle per day to the gaushalas.

Rewari, July 31
Mahesh Kumar Gujjar (27), a jawan of the 22nd Rajput Regiment, was cremated with military as well as state honours at his native village, Asalwas, 12 km from here, last night.

The body of Mahesh Kumar, who died while fighting with Paksitan army in the Nowgam sector in Kupwara district over the LoC on Monday, was flown to Delhi last evening.

While contingents of the 22nd Rajput Regiment as well as the Haryana police reversed their arms as a mark of respect to the martyr, SDM Yogesh Bhardwaj and DSP Balwan Singh Rana placed wreaths on the pyre on behalf of the district administration.

Besides, former minister Dr M.L. Ranga and several other local leaders paid floral tributes to the martyr.

A large number of residents of various villages and members of the Gujjar Samaj attended the funeral.

Paying tributes to the martyr, Subedar Devender Singh, Army contingent in charge, said the Indian Army as well as the country was proud of the sacrifice made by Mahesh Kumar. He laid down his life only after killing four Pakistani soldiers.

Mahesh is survived by wife Bhateri Devi (24) and three daughters.

Faridabad, July 31
A resident of Mandhauli village, near here, allegedly murdered his wife in the wee hours today following a long spell of domestic violence.

The accused, Rajbir, is alleged to be an alcoholic and used to torture his wife on several counts, including for money.

His wife, Bimla, used to work and had emerged as the breadwinner for the family due to the “neglect and apathy” shown by her husband.

Last night, the accused is alleged to have had an altercation with his wife. The latter reportedly refused to serve him food. The husband went to sleep but in the wee hours today allegedly murdered his wife while she was asleep.

The accused went to sleep after the incident. His daughter found her mother in a pool of blood when she went to offer the routine morning tea. The accused has been arrested and has reportedly confessed to his crime.

Yamunanagar, July 31
Continuous rainfall in the parts of the state for the past two days has brought some relief from the ongoing power cuts.

However, the power situation in Haryana is expected to remain grim in August also due to rise in power shortage as per the Central Electricity Authority.

The power shortage was assessed 12.48 per cent in July and is estimated to increase to 14.03 per cent in August.

In July, people had faced more than 8 hours of power cuts in urban areas and 14 hours in rural areas.

Though the power consumption has increased to 1,100 lakh units per day, power available from all sources is 850 lakh units.

Besides, the load generation balance report released by the Central Electricity Authority has projected shortage of 3,186 million units (9.9 per cent power shortage) in the state in 2008-2009.

Rohtak, July 31
The body of a schoolgirl was found hanging from a fan of a passenger train at the local railway station this evening. The train had come from Panipat this afternoon and had to leave for Bhiwani in the evening.

There was a gap of a few hours in between, during which the train remained stationed at the Rohtak railway station. Some passengers, who had to board the train, got suspicious when they found the doors of a compartment bolted from inside.

They informed the GRP, following which a police team went inside the coach through emergency window. The cops found a young girl hanging from a fan inside.

The police also found a schoolbag and a monthly seasonal ticket (MST). The books contained the name of Seema Khatri, a student of class XII at SD Senior Secondary School, Rohtak, while the MST bore the name Sarika Ahlawat.

The GRP later disclosed that a relative of the girl had identified her as Seema Khatri of Ismaila village. The police maintained that girl, who was attired in school uniform, would have boarded the train while it was stationed.

The police had called forensic experts from Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban. The compartment was detached from the train, which left for Bhiwani in the evening.

The girl’s body had not been brought down till the time of filing this report.

Rewari, July 31
Four members of a family were killed when the motorcycle they were riding on reportedly collided with a truck on the Narnaul-Rewari road nears Kathuwas village of Alwar district, 26 km from here, today. While three of them died on the spot, the bike driver died on his way to the Civil Hospital here.

The deceased have been identified as Dinesh Kumar (22), his mother Kamla Devi (50) and his two nieces - Varsha (9) and Moni (5), all residents of Khoondroth village of Alwar district in Rajasthan. The mishap occurred when Dinesh, along with three others, was coming towards Kund and the truck was on its way to Narnaul from Rewari.

Yamunanagar, July 31
Hundreds of passengers remained stranded at different stations after train services between Sahranpur and Ambala were disrupted due to derailment of bogies of a goods train at Kalanaur in the district here today.

Sources said the incident took place around 6 am when the train carrying goods was on its way from Sahranpur to Ambala. As the train reached Kalanaur near the Uttar Pradesh-Yamunanagar border, two wagons reportedly derailed. However, train services were resumed after four hours.