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Govt avoids declaring state drought-hit
Gangster gunned down
‘Suicide’ by Sainik School Student
Ex-Minister Bhadana joins BSP
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3 kids held on molestation charge
Tribune Impact
More suspected swine flu cases surface
Man kills wife
Power Cuts
Villagers block traffic over erratic water supply
High Court Illegal colony case
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Govt avoids declaring state drought-hit
Chandigarh, August 13 This even as the state government got into action and issued circular for close monitoring of the drought-like conditions in the state. The state government has now appointed administrative secretaries for all 21 districts in the state, who will be monitoring availability of drinking water, power supply, canal water for irrigation and availability of food grains and other essential commodities. The state has witnessed a deficit of over 52 per cent in rainfall this year. But the state government is simply admitting to “prevailing of drought-like conditions in the state.” In its representation to the Government of India, the state has said that though the area sown under major kharif crops like paddy, jowar, guar and sugarcane is much less than last year, it is not drought- hit. The state has claimed that the crops sown in the fields are doing well and productivity will not be hit as they have managed to supply adequate power to the farm sector to run the tubewells and irrigate the fields. However, farmer unions in the state say that most of the standing crops, mainly paddy has dried, because of non-availability of water for irrigation. “There has been no rainfall this year and farmers have incurred losses worth Rs 10,000 per acre. The seed of paddy crop, the high cost of running tubewells on diesel and the high labour costs have /proved to be a death knell for farmers. Since most of the standing crop in southern Haryana has dried, farmers have suffered huge losses,” said Vijender Singh Billu, vice -president, Bhartiya Kisan Union. The BKU will be holding a kisan panchayat at Panipat on August 19, following which a protest rally will be held at Pipli on August 20. The Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha, too, has threatened to stage dharnas at Siwani, Hisar and Bhiwani, beginning August 17. “There is no water to irrigate the fields, even the drinking water is unavailable and we are forced to buy water for drinking purposes. At places where tubewell irrigation is being done by running tubewells on diesel, the water is so deep under ground that farmers have had to buy 200 litres of diesel for the purpose. The government will have to announce some relief package for us. If our demands are not met, we will start courting arrest at Bhiwani from August 24 onwards,” said Dayanand Punia, general secretary of the sabha. |
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Gangster gunned down
Jhajjar, August 13 However, one of his accomplices, who was riding with him on a motorcycle, managed to escape along with a weapon and the bike after the firing, says the police. Placed in the ‘most wanted ‘category the deceased identified as Upender, alias Kala, carried a reward of Rs 10,000. According to police sources, Upender aged about 25 years was wanted in around 10 cases of robbery, theft and cases under the NDPS Act. He was a resident of Beri town of the district and had been spotted last night, after which a police team started following him. It is stated that Upender accompanied by another youth, who could not be identified, were chased for several kilometres and there was an exchange of fire. The police claimed that the accused opened fire at the police team which ordered him to surrender.He was allegedly killed when the police returned fire.
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‘Suicide’ by Sainik School Student
Karnal, August 13 The deceased, Ratnesh, had allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the hostel bathroom on the school premises on the night of July 16. Even at that time, his parents had suspected foul play and claimed that Ratnesh was throttled to death and later his body hung in the bathroom. In a memorandum sent to the President, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the National Human Rights Commission, Shah, who is posted at Sitamari in Bihar, alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched by the school authorities in connivance with the police to hush up the case as “suicide” without proper investigations. Explaining the developments which raised suspicion in his mind and prompted him to seek a CBI probe, Shah said he was informed by the school authorities that the boy was sick, but since he was posted in Bihar, he could not come immediately. “However, I told my relatives to rush to Kunjpura, but when they reached the school, they were told that the boy was dead. They were shocked and refused to sign the death papers,” he said. The bathroom in which Ratnesh allegedly hanged himself was not sealed immediately; forensic evidence was allowed to be tampered with; the postmortem was also conducted after nearly 48 hours and no serious effort was made to link the forensic evidence with the case, he claimed.
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Ex-Minister Bhadana joins BSP
Chandigarh, August 13 Bhadana had been a Minister in the Chautala Cabinet. He left the Ministry to join the BJP and contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections on its ticket from Rajasthan but lost. He joined politics with his entry in the Haryana Vikas Party of Bansi Lal in 1996 and became an MLA from Samalkha. He quit the HVP in 1999 and joined the INLD. After Bansi Lal was toppled by Om Prakash Chautala, Bhadana was inducted into the Cabinet. He again won from Samalkha in 2000. Bhadana said he had joined the BSP after he felt that its policies would be in the interest of the people of Haryana. Welcoming him to the party BSP general secretary in charge of Haryana Maan Singh Manhera said the party would be further strengthened with the presence of Bhadana. Manhera criticised the Hooda government for being soft on caste “khaps”, which, he said, should be banned immediately. |
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3 kids held on molestation charge
Bahadurgarh, August 13 The accused, aged around 10, were later released on bail. A case under Section 354 (assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC has been against them on a complaint lodged by the father of the victim. Two teachers of the school have reportedly been placed under suspension by the Education Department. The action followed after the kin of the victim and residents of the village held a protest and locked up the school this morning. According to reports, the incident took place in the school on Tuesday when three boys, students of Class V, allegedly took the girl, a student of Class I, to a room in the school and tried to outrage her modesty. The girl raised the alarm. |
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Tribune Impact
Chandigarh, August 13. A team of Health Department led by GL Singhal, assistant state drug controller, today inspected all chemist shops in Sector 6, Panchkula. The move followed a report published in The Tribune in its August 13 issue, wherein it was highlighted that the chemists were selling the N 95 masks, two layered and three-layered masks at a premium. Talking to TNS, Singhal said they had conducted search operations and found that a chemist in Sector 6 was selling the N 95 masks for Rs 200 a piece, as against its original price of Rs 55 a piece. “We found that he was not even giving any bill for selling these masks. He had bought these masks in black from Bhagirath Palace in Delhi, without any bill. So he was selling these in his shop without a bill,” he said. Singhal said he had ordered the shop to be closed down till further orders. “We will issue him a notice, and initiate further legal action against him,” he added. The Tribune had highlighted how the panic caused by swine flu pandemic had led to brisk business for traders and suppliers of the N 95 masks. With black marketeers stepping in, these masks are available for Rs 200- Rs 250 a piece. These are disposable masks, which are suddenly in great demand. Among the precautions that one can take against the deadly disease is to wear these masks in crowded areas. But for the past couple of days, these masks are not available in most chemist shops and hospitals in Punjab and Haryana. At a few places that these masks are available, these are selling at a premium. Even the normal masks (double layered and three -layered masks) are being sold at in black. As against a price of Rs 4 a mask (two layer) earlier, it is now selling at Rs 5-6 a piece, while the three-layered mask is being sold at Rs 8- Rs 25 a piece, as against its earlier price of Rs 5 a piece. At places where the N 95 masks are unavailable, these masks are selling like hot cakes now.
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More suspected swine flu cases surface
Sirsa, August 13 However, no report has yet been received from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi, after August 9, when the report of the doctor’s sample was communicated to the local health authorities. Meanwhile, in Fatehabad district, the health authorities received six suspected cases today and took their throat swab samples to be sent to the NICD for testing. The suspects include a doctor of the General Hospital, Fatehabad, said nodal officer DK Dadhich. Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa, Yudhvir Singh Khyalia, meanwhile, headed a meeting of senior doctors of the health department today. He said instructions had been issued to all government and private schools to bring children suffering from cough and cold to hospital and ask such children to take rest at home. The authorities have also provided a helpline for people and anyone, who sees symptoms of flu, should contact 01666-240155 or the mobile number - 9416077990. FARIDABAD: The district administration on Thursday convened a meeting of principals of academic institutions, private doctors, elected representatives of local bodies and people from other walks of life to discuss swine flu. Addressing them, Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Brijender Singh said the administration was fully alert and all arrangements had been made to deal with any exigency arising out of a possible spread of the disease. He said there was no need to panic. The heads of academic institutions were urged not to close down institutions in panic. The administration has sent about 40 suspected cases of swine flu to the NICD. |
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Man kills wife
Karnal, August 13 The accused, a driver, allegedly used to come home in a drunken state and beat up his wife and children, Monika (15) and Sachin (11). Romesh, who had not come home since July 15, came to his house around 11.00 am and finding his wife alone in the house, allegedly attacked her on the neck with a sharp-edged weapon, which proved fatal. Both Monika and Sachin, students of Adarsh Vidya Mandir School, were in school when the murder took place. The police inspected the spot and registered a case of murder against Romesh under section 302 of the IPC on a complaint of the children. The body of the victim has been sent for a postmortem. Romesh fled after committing the crime, investigating officer Randhir Singh said.
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Power Cuts
Jind, August 13 While the movement of traffic remained disrupted on the Jind- Safidon and Kaithal roads for several hours, the violence led to damage of vehicles and setting ablaze of the police picket near Haibatpur village. The police had to resort to a lathicharge. The angry villagers also stormed the power substation at Nagura village and damaged the property there in protest against the short power supply in Shahpur village. The police has arrested one youth and has booked 175 others for rioting and damaging public property besides, creating hurdles in official work. The traffic on the roads was resumed early this morning. It is reported that over 120 residents of Haibatpur village, three km from here, assembled on the main road connecting Jind with Safidon last night when there was a power cut. They blocked the road and stopped a bus coming from Rajasthan and two trucks passing from there before damaging their windscreens in protest. While the police officials from the nearest station reached at the spot the irate villagers pelted stones on the police and set ablaze the nearby police picket. It is reported that the fire may have engulfed two rifles and 40 cartridges kept there as a complaint was lodged later that these arms and ammunition had been missing after the incident. The protestors later staged a blockade on the main road and remained there till 4 am. The Employees Union of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam later locked the officials of the department in a room this evening, who had gone to talk with the villagers over the issue. They were protesting against the attack on the staff and their families by the mob last night and demanded immediate arrest of all the accused. The All Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union has also condemned the incident and has sought safety of the staff on duty. SONEPAT: Agitated residents of local Bhagat Singh colony today blocked the Sonepat-Rohtak road at Kalupur Chungi for more than an hour in protest against the erratic water and electricity supply in the colony for the past two weeks. However, the blockade was lifted when the officers of the Bijli Nigam and the police reached the spot and assured that their grievances would be redressed at the earliest. Vehicles were stranded on both sides of the roads. According to another report, residents of Mehlana, Tihar Kalan and Baghru blocked Sonepat-Farmana road for the same reasons. However, the blockade was lifted within half-an-hour.
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Villagers block traffic over erratic water supply
Karnal, August 13 Fed up with indifferent and non-responsive attitude of the officials concerned, the protesters blocked the traffic for about two and a half hours. The vehicular traffic came to a standstill and a large number of vehicles were stranded on either side of the bridge making the police and district officers run to the spot. The villagers rued that they were forced to remain without power for 10 to 15 hours. “Our repeated pleas to the authorities to streamline the water and power supply appeared to have fallen on deaf ears and we are forced to go on war path” said a teenager. “Our children were falling ill as we are forced to meet our requirements by using contaminated water available from other sources but the officials have turned a blind eye to our miseries” , said another villager. Inspector Randhir Singh pacified the agitators and blockade was lifted only after the Vidyut Nigam officials arrived on the spot and power supply was restored. During protests some drunken people smashed the window of a Safari and three persons were booked under Section 160 of the IPC, police sources said. |
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High Court
Chandigarh, August 13 Declining an anticipatory bail application filed by an under-suspension employee of the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department, Justice Rajesh Bindal directed the forwarding of the order’s copy to the state Chief Secretary “to take appropriate steps to see that action against the suspended employees does not remain pending till infinity to enable them to indulge in more illegal activities”. Justice Bindal also asked the Chief Secretary to see “as to what checks and balances are there to see that a suspended employee does not indulge in such activities”. The surfacing of the under-suspension employee's name in a cheating and forgery case led to the issuance of the directions. The petitioner, PS Kapoor, was booked by the Chandigarh police. Justice Bindal asserted: “This court is constrained to make observations regarding the manner in which the entire fraud is being investigated at different levels and also the casual attitude with which final action against a suspended employee is pending, letting him enjoy paid holidays at the cost of the state and indulge in business of property dealing and other fraudulent activities.”
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After Faridabad-based Sector 4-R Welfare Association expressed apprehensions of Haryana Chief Minister announcing regularisation of unauthorised jhuggi colonies on the Independence Day, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the regularisation of one such colony - Patel Nagar Colony. Bench of Justice JS Khehar and Justice Nirmaljit Kaur also issued notice of motion to the state of Haryana and other respondents on the petition for September 16. In the petition filed through counsel Divya Sharma, the petitioners sought the setting aside of the order dated August 8 passed by the Faridabad municipal corporation, vide which the unauthorised jhuggi colonies were resolved to be regularised “in absolutely arbitrary and illegal manner”. Sharma said: “Respondents had been acting in great haste to fulfil their ill designs”. Quoting official sources, she said the CM was expected to make an announcement as a gift to the jhuggi dwellers on the Independence Day. |
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