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Solar Eclipse A devotee offers prayers during the solar eclipse at the Brahmsarovar
in Kurukshetra on Friday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar
Power to cost more
One more dies of fever, toll 7
Seven IAS, 3 HCS officers shifted
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Volvo bus service re-launched
Slow Development
Canal breach inundates over 125 acres
Horse flu attacks India after 20 yrs
Rain brings respite to farmers
Cop acts as Good Samaritan
6 Urdu books released
Foetus found in drain
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Over 15 lakh take holy dip
Manish Sirhindi Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, August 1 Many people - young, aged, infirm and able-bodied - could be seen walking down the roads with bare feet to reach the sarovars with utmost conviction. Pilgrims had started thronging the city yesterday only and the number went on increasing as the eclipse time came closer. Many offered prayers to the eclipsed sun on the banks of the two sarovars. Religious organisations aired discourses through the sound system installed at various places around the holy tanks. A large number of pilgrims spent almost the entire day on the banks of the two sarovars, praying and waiting for the eclipse to occur. As the moon began to eclipse the sun, the sound of conch shells and temple bells added to the intensity of the atmosphere. State Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also took a dip in the holy sarovar along with his wife Asha Hooda at the VIP ghat, said he prayed for the prosperity of the state and the country and for the world peace. The Chief Minister was accompanied by recently retired Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Vijender Jain, education and transport minister M.R. Gupta, state Congress president P.C. Mullana, local MP Naveen Jindal, Karnal MP Arvind Sharma and DGP Ranjeev Dalal.
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Power to cost more
Chandigarh, August 1 However, there will be no increase in the cost of power for the agriculture sector because the state government has agreed to pay additional subsidy of Rs 159.14 crore. The power charges have been raised following the demand of the power utilities, which said they had to recover additional cost incurred by them in purchasing power during 2007-08. The fuel surcharge has been levied to recover Rs 558.48 crore from the consumers in the next 36 months. In December 2006 also, the FSA ranging from 13 paise to 40 paise per unit was imposed for 36 months. It is still being recovered and will continue for another 16 months. The power will be costlier for the domestic sector by 5 paise per unit up to 40 units, by 7 paise per unit for monthly consumption between 41 units to 300 units and 8 paise per unit above 300 units. The FSA will be 8 paise per unit for non-domestic consumers, including commercial establishments, LT industry (less than 70 kW), HT industry, rail traction, bulk supply, public water supply and streetlights. The power rates are likely to go up further if the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission responded positive to the request of the power utilities to increase the tariff to bridge the gap of Rs 522 crore in their revenue requirement. The power utilities have also sought another FSA, demanding additional Rs 300 crore. Meanwhile, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has condemned the hike in electricity rates and has demanded its immediate rollback. Senior INLD leader and former finance minister Sampat Singh here today said on one hand the state government had failed to provide electricity and the people were frustrated over the electricity crisis and on the other hand by further raising the rates of electricity, the government was now adding insult to the injury. He said this additional burden was proposed to be put on the consumers from March 31 last, but it was postponed in view of the byelections in the state. Since it was being implemented from August 1, another 10.5 per cent interest would be charged from the consumers. Sampat Singh said he himself would appear on behalf of the INLD in the public hearing to be held by the commission on August 18 to further increase the power charges. In total, a burden of Rs 3280 crore had been put on the people in the last one and a half years. |
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One more dies of fever, toll 7
Fatehabad, August 1 He suffered from high fever five days ago and was taken to a Hisar hospital after doctors attending on him expressed helplessness in curing him. He was shifted to Delhi two days ago where he died yesterday. Earlier, Raj Rani, Ina, Mange Ram, Neelam, Rajinder and Shri Ram had died due to fever during the past one month. Fatehabad district has been in the grip of malaria, viral fever and dengue for the past one month. Tohana town is the worst affected, where fever has been rampant during this period and in almost every other household cases of fever are being witnessed. Sources have confirmed 12 patients of dengue belonging to Tohana having received treatment at a charitable hospital in Hisar. However, the health authorities have confirmed only five cases of dengue, three in Fatehabad and two in Tohana. The civil surgeon, Dr
J.K. Bishnoi, said the health authorities had found 1,200 patients suffering from fever in July and after getting their blood samples tested, they found only 33 cases of malaria. He confirmed only three deaths at Tohana, that of Ina, Shri Ram and Rajender, and said no other death had been reported to the health authorities. Interestingly, the civil surgeon informed that 1,155 cases of malaria had been found in the district between January and July this year. This makes an average of around 170 cases per month. However, in July, when both malaria and viral have been in epidemic form, the official figure of malaria cases has been put at 33 only. The SMO, Tohana, Dr Joginder Singh, however, said 30 cases of suspected dengue had been found in the town and their blood samples had been sent for testing. He said the report of these cases was still awaited. He said conformation regarding three cases had already been received and they had been found positive for dengue. Meanwhile, the district authorities at Tohana have sought the help of certain NGOs, including followers of Dera Sacha Sauda for cleanliness of the area. Confirming this, Dr Joginder Singh told The Tribune that the role of the NGOs was essential as the health authorities alone could not clean coolers and stagnant water in houses. |
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Seven IAS, 3 HCS officers shifted
Chandigarh, August 1 Arun Kumar, director, industries and commerce and mines and geology, will also work as director, supplies and disposal
department. D.D. Gautam, director, science and technology, MD, HSMITC, MD, Haryana State Small Industries and Export Corporation, and MD, Haryana Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation, and SS, industries and commerce and mines and geology departments, has been given the additional charge of administrator, Command Area Development Authority, Panchkula. Rajbir Singh, joint secretary, secretariat establishment and monitoring and coordination departments, will also look after the post of joint secretary, housing department. Sameer Pal
Srow, member-secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, has been given the additional charge of director and deputy secretary, environment department. Satbir Singh
Jangu, undersecretary, finance department, has been given the additional charge of land acquisition officer, PW (B&R) and PW (Irrigation), Bhiwani, against a vacant post. Virender Singh
Sehrawat, awaiting posting orders, has been posted as general manager, Haryana Roadways, Karnal, against a vacant post. Satyawan, MD, Cooperative Sugar Mills, Meham, will also look after the work of land acquisition officer, Urban Estate, Rohtak, relieving Sanjay Rai. Rajesh Duggal, DSP, DGP’s flying squad, Panchkula, has been posted as
ACP, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon. B.L. Dhiman, DPRO, Panipat, has been posted as DPRO, Karnal, and he will also look after the work of DPRO, Panipat, till further orders. |
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Volvo bus service re-launched
Chandigarh, August 1 This was stated by transport minister Mange Ram Gupta after flagging off a Volvo bus, “Saarthi”, at the ISBT, Sector 17, here today. He said the Volvo bus service was being reintroduced in the state on the persistent public demand. Earlier, the service was introduced in 2005 but had to be discontinued after the contractor withdrew from the contract. Recently, four Volvo buses were purchased by the transport department and six more would be purchased soon. One Volvo bus costs more than Rs 60 lakh. The Volvo buses would have the facilities of laptop and mobile charging besides mineral water and newspapers. He made it clear that there was no proposal to run sleeper buses in the state. Gupta said the government would replace 1,163 old buses of the roadways fleet during the current financial year. The old buses were being replaced as they had completed seven years of their life while other states replaced the buses after 10 to 12 years. He said there was no proposal to raise the bus fare in the state. The fare of the Volvo bus from Chandigarh to Delhi would be Rs 390 per ticket while it would be Rs 440 for Gurgaon. Transport commissioner M. Ram Shekhar said four buses would ply from Delhi to Chandigarh, Chandigarh to Gurgaon (via international airport) and Chandigarh to Gurgaon (via domestic airport). There would be 12 trips by these buses daily. A tag system would be introduced for the safety of luggage. Volvo Timings
The first Volvo bus of Haryana Roadways will start from Chandigarh to Gurgaon via Indira Gandhi International Airport and the domestic airport at
12.30 am daily and then at 7.20 am, 11 am, 2.20 pm, 8 pm and 11.15 pm. Similarly, the first bus from Delhi will start at 1.50 am and then at 7.40 am, 9.05 am, 1 pm, 5 pm and 11.30 pm. The first bus from Gurgaon will start at 6 am, the second at 7.40 am and the third at 9.55 pm |
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Panchayat tenders resignation
Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service
Jind, August 1 The village sarpanch said the decision to offer mass resignation was taken in a meeting held in the village yesterday regarding the matter. All members of the village body, including the elected panches, reached the office of the deputy commissioner here today to submit their papers, but they had to meet the ADC to implement their decision. He claimed that the village had been declared as a model village and the state government had sanctioned Rs 7 crore for carrying out various development works in the village, which included covering of streets with concrete and providing other basic amenities. He alleged that due to uncooperative attitude and lack of drive from the officials concerned, the works had been lying pending since long. Nineteen elected panches, including eight women representatives, were present at the time of offering their resignation. Sources said though the resignations were handed over to the ADC, the latter did not accept these and assured them that he would visit the village tomorrow to assess the ground reality regarding their grievance.
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Canal breach inundates over 125 acres
Sirsa, August 1 A small breach occurred in the morning, which increased to around 100 ft by the afternoon. The minor, that has a capacity of 225 cusecs, was flowing with 200 cusecs at the time of the breach. The breach occurred near RD (reduced distance) No. 34200 of the minor. Executive engineer, Water Services, Nehrana Division, V.K. Gulati told The Tribune that an agency had been deployed for plugging the breach, but added that it would take two more days for the repairs. He said the breach occurred after a tree fell into the minor and once a small cut was formed it increased due to the flow of water. Gulati maintained that there was no loss to the farmers as the fields where canal water had gone had paddy crop and water was already standing there. Farmers Vinod
Beniwal, Om Parkash, Ram Moorti, Raghu Beniwal, Balbir Singh, Prithvi Singh, Jagdish and Rajesh Kumar have alleged that their fields have been inundated by the canal water and standing crops have been damaged. Meanwhile, two bodies were found in the canal water this afternoon. The canal authorities informed the police, which has recovered the bodies. |
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Horse flu attacks India after 20 yrs
Hisar, August 1 A team of experts from the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) examined and collected serum samples and nasal swabs of affected animals, which confirmed that hundreds of civilian horses, ponies and mules serving pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine were suffering from equine influenza. The authorities had been advised to quarantine the animals suffering with the highly contagious viral disease presently confined to Jammu’s Katra region, said the NRCE director, Dr S.K. Dwivedi. As many as 60 per cent of the ponies and mules in Katra, which had an equine population of at least 18,000, were showing clinical signs of equine influenza, which had earlier struck the country in 1987, when around 83,000 animals suffered in central and north India, he said. Horse flu spreads very fast and the animal, which gets the disease, has to be given adequate rest and symptomatic treatment for the relief from the disease otherwise secondary bacterial complications may occur. The centre had developed an indigenous vaccine for prevention and control of the disease, which could be prepared here on a limited scale on demand. However, any government or non-government veterinary biological house could avail of this technology for wide-scale manufacture and commercial marketing of the vaccine, he said. — UNI
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Rahul Mahajan, Shweta get divorce
Gurgaon, August 1 Both appeared with their counsel before the judge. Before passing the divorce order under the Hindu Marriage Act, the judge asked them whether they were under any pressure, but both responded in the negative. Shweta had filed the petition through her counsel in December 2007. Both had married in 2006, some months after the death of Parmod Mahajan.
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Rain brings respite to farmers
Sirsa/Fatehabad, August 1 It rained heavily in Sirsa and Fatehabad today. The rain started early in the morning at Sirsa and continued till the afternoon, while in Fatehabad it started raining around noon. A majority of the roads in the two towns remained waterlogged for hours. Farmers have expressed happiness at today’s rain. “It is beneficial for paddy as well as the cotton crop. The crops were in dire need of water,” said Balkar Singh, a farmer from Begu village in Sirsa. “Today’s rain will benefit all crops. Cotton, paddy and bajra, all are going to gain from it,” said Ravi Poonia, deputy director, agriculture, Fatehabad. “The rain will also wash away mealy bugs, at least for the time being. Though the bug is not killed by water, but the rain will wash away the insect and farmers will have respite from it, at least for a few days,” Poonia added. |
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Cop acts as Good Samaritan
Sirsa, August 1 She did no get help from anybody despite many onlookers. Passersby noticed her, stopped for a while, saw her condition and walked ahead. It was only near noon that a cop noticed her and brought this to the notice of the general hospital authorities. An ambulance was sent and she was shifted to the general hospital. The doctor on emergency duty provided first aid to her and shifted her to the maternity ward. The woman delivered a healthy female baby in the afternoon. Doctors said she had been unable to tell anything about her except the fact that she was from Agra. They maintained that though she was not insane, she was not in perfect mental health even. Sources said the woman had been found roaming near the Bhadra pond area for the past three months. The woman had told people sometime back that she lived in Hingli village near Agra, where her husband was a truck driver. She said she had gone to Hardwar with her parents and was lost. She landed in Sirsa after catching a train. Sources said she had told the name of her father as Rattan Singh Thakur and mother’s name as Bhooria.
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6 Urdu books released
Chandigarh, August 1 The books have been authored by eminent writers and published by the Haryana Urdu Akademi under its Urdu promotional programme. Kidwai lauded the efforts of the akademi and Padma Shri K.L. Zakir for introducing correspondence courses in Urdu. The books released included “Ghungroo Toot Gaye”, authored by Qateel Shefai, “Kulyaat-e- Bekal Utsahi” by Padma Shri Bekal Utsahi, “Gaur-o-Fikr” by M.P. Jain, “Adbi Safar Ke 50 Baras” by Kewal Dhir, “Tehrik-e- Azadi Aur Mewat” by K.L. Zakir, “Koi Chaara Saaz Hota” by Renu Behl. Bekal Utsahi, acclaimed poet and former Rajya Sabha member, recited his ghazals. Earlier, akademi secretary K.L. Zakir welcomed Kidwai. |
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Foetus found in drain
Sirsa, August 1 Former municipal president Kamlesh Sharma, president of the Nagrik Kalyan Manch Nitin Somani and several other social organisations have demanded a probe into the matter. |
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Appointed
Chandigarh, August 1 |
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The grand stretches of Brahmsarovar provided the prefect setting for over 15 lakh pilgrims, who took a dip in the holy sarovars here during the solar eclipse this evening.
