Patna, February 26
In a tragic incident, Bihar’s ruling JD(U) MLA Abhay Singh allegedly committed suicide after killing his wife and infant daughter early today. The police recovered the bodies with gun shot injuries from Abhay’s bedroom. Hearing the news, Abhay’s father Narendra Singh, minister in Natish Kumar Cabinet, fell unconscious. He was rushed the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology here.

Abhay, a two-term MLA from Jamui, was residing in his father’s ministerial bungalow. Attaché, the police is yet to ascertain the circumstances that led to this shocking incident, it has been learnt that Abhay came back home at around 2 am and was in a drunken state. His wife objected to it and the couple had a heated altercation following which he is understood to have shot her. On second thought, he also shot his six-month-old daughter before killing himself. His elder daughter survived as she was sleeping with her grandmother in an adjacent room. 

Jaipur, February 26
Vidhayakpuri police station has been adjudged as the 'best police station in Asia' for providing smooth public services and ensuring speedy disposal of cases. With around one lakh people under it's jurisdiction, it is located in the city's southern flank and has been selected amongst police stations of 211 cities in 20 countries like Bangladesh, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and Uganda.

"This is a motivating recognition for all the personnel. The area under this police station covers the most important roads and business streets of the city," said Superintendent of Police Jaipur city (South) Jose Mohan. The award, instituted by the New York-based Altus Global Alliance — an organisation working for public safety and justice across the globe, will be received by the district police chief at Abuja in Nigeria at a ceremony on March 25 and 26.

Two other police stations of the country — Sector 17, Chandigarh and Vadakkenchery in Kerala — also made to the final list for the title on parameters like public satisfaction, service delivery, working conditions of personnel, motivation among them and infrastructure and logistics at police station. Hassle free registration of cases was the benchmark here. Fair and speedy disposal of complaints was ensured and public was involved in amicable settlement of petty disputes, Mohan said.

In October last year, a total of 5,029 persons took part in police station visitors week to accomplish the exercise, he added. The best police station was finally selected by combining the people's scores (police station visit) and the jury's results. Vidhayakpuri police station received the highest combined scores, Mohan said. — PTI 

Chandigarh, February 26
The Railways, a huge consumer of fossil fuel and electricity, is looking at harnessing 10 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources. This is among the measures envisioned by the Railways to set base for sustaining energy security through use of alternate energy sources besides reducing its carbon signature.

According to the Indian Railways Vision 2020, released recently, two power plants would also be set up in collaboration with the National Thermal Power Corporation to generate additional 6,000 MW of electricity. Solar, bio-mass and wind energy are possible alternatives being considered by the Railways. About 87 per cent of the Railways’ energy requirement is used for traction, that is by locomotives for hauling coaches and wagons. The remaining 13 per cent is used by its static establishments, stations and workshops. Available information reveals that the Railways consumes almost 12,000 million kilowatts of electricity, out of which 9,000 million kilowatts is consumed by locomotives.

The consumption of diesel is pegged at over 2,000 million litres, most of which is used by diesel locomotives. Besides issues of import, rising costs and depleting global reserves, use of fossil fuel like diesel also has environmental ramifications as they add to air pollution. The Railways figures reveal that even under present circumstances, where power consumption, quality controls and infrastructural support are major issues, it is possible to save 15 per cent energy.

New suburban trains with regenerative braking systems introduced in Mumbai save 35-40 per cent energy and this technology is to be introduced in other areas. 

New Delhi, February 26
Describing India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level talks as an “encouraging step” towards restoring dialogue and better communication between the two governments, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna today said New Delhi was convinced that it must not shut the door on dialogue with the neighbouring country.

If the dialogue gathers momentum, it holds tremendous potential for the progress and well-being of the people of the region, Krishna told Parliament in a suo motu statement on yesterday’s talks between the top diplomats of the two countries.

He reiterated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s articulation that India could not wish away the fact that Pakistan was its neighbour. The two Foreign Secretaries would remain in touch since communication and engagement represented the best way forward.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir this morning called on the Indian minister and discussed bilateral issues. It was Bashir’s last engagement in New Delhi before heading back to Islamabad. The two discussed key points relating to India's concerns over terrorism that dominated the talks between the two Foreign Secretaries yesterday, official sources said.

Krishna emphasised the need to rebuild trust and confidence that could create the right atmosphere for resuming the dialogue process.

The minister, meanwhile, reiterated in Parliament what Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told her Pakistani counterpart yesterday — that the future of bilateral dialogue with Pakistan would depend on Islamabad's response to India's “core concerns on terrorism” which remains undiluted.

Sawai Madhopur, February 26
In a bid to facilitate a conducive habitat for tigers in Ranthambore National Park and prevent them from straying into new territories, the authorities will soon be creating artificial water bodies inside the park, apart from relocating nearby villages to carve out more space.

It is for the first time that such an initiative has been taken under the tiger conservation project in the desert state. The move will also help in boosting tiger sightings in the park as water bodies are an ideal resting and hunting zone for them. Wildlife experts have dubbed the step in the right direction, saying Ranthambore had no dearth of habitation and food but insufficiency of water was certainly bothering the big cats. Water crisis in Ranthambore is largely due to two reasons - shortfall of rain and rise in tiger population.

There are over 40 tigers in the park and they are confined to an area of less than 400 sq km of the core area. In fact the park is facing the problem of plenty. Recently at least five tigers had strayed away from Ranthambore to other places with two of them - T-37 and T-47 - wandering off to very distant places. Apprehending the possibility of them falling to poachers, the forest officials had to depute more personnel to monitor them. According to sources, the Forest and Wildlife Department is taking up construction of 40 artificial ponds and lakes as the water crisis will worsen during March-June. The department plans to raise these water bodies at strategic points in the forest where they can be naturally recharged with surface runoff from rainfall.

Sawai Madhopur District Forest Officer RS Shekhawat said, “This is the first instance when small artificial lakes will be built at locations where rainwater can collect over a period of time.” According to him out of 40, around 25 lakes are planned at Ranthambore while the remaining will be raised at Keoladeo National Park. Meanwhile, the forest department has also been trying to make more room for tigers at Ranthambore by not only relocating nearby villages but also by connecting the forests with nearby sanctuaries.

Jaipur, February 26
Though the ruling Congress may have been on cloud nine after scoring successive electoral wins in Rajasthan, if the recent meeting of the Congress legislature party is any indication then all is not well within the party.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came under severe criticism from his own legislators in the meeting that took place a day after the Budget Session began on February 22. Though the meeting was called to discuss the party’s strategy during the Session, the atmosphere got charged when a legislator raised the issue of non-payment of some allowance.

Reacting to it, Gehlot said the state was grappling with drought and acute water crisis and its time to focus on such issues first. Initially, the Congress MLAs accused the government officials of “denying them the facilities they are entitled to”. However, later they targeted Gehlot and objected to his style of functioning so much so that a couple of them went to the extent of saying that neither the CM nor the bureaucrats were approachable even to the public representatives.

The issue of inaccessibility of the CM was raked up by senior party leader and Congress MLA from Baytoo Col Sonaram who said it was easier to meet the AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi than CM Gehlot. “I can get an appointment to meet Sonia Gandhi within 15 days but I have been unable to meet the chief minister for the last seven months,” he said.

Another MLA, Ram Narayan Meena, vent his ire at the top bureaucrats for “ignoring the public representatives”. 

Lucknow, February 26
A high-profile wedding between the children of the two ruling BSP MPs went horribly wrong at Meerut when two elephants went berserk, overturning and crushing several dozen vehicles, including those of VVIPs and the police.

At a glittering ceremony to be attended by the state’s who’s who, the daughter of BSP Rajya Sabha MP Munqad Ali was to wed the son of businessman and BSP MP from Muzaffarnagar Qadir Rana at JP Resort in Partapur, on the Delhi-Meerut road on the outskirts of the city.

However, the marriage would now be remembered for the wrong reasons. Two elephants -- ironically the party’s official symbol too -- went out of control and overturned and crushed dozens of vehicles parked on the bypass and uprooted many trees in the area. Besides the losses (running into several crores of rupees), the elephants disrupted traffic on the busy Delhi-Meerut-Dehradun highway for over 15 hours. The VIPs present at the wedding ran helter skelter and managed to make a safe exist.

Finally, the elephants were chased to a field across the highway and isolated by cordoning it off. After a 15-hour drama, experts from the Forest Department in Dehradun arrived with tranquilisers in the afternoon and managed to calm down the berserk and by now tired elephants.

According to IG (Meerut) Javed Akhtar, the situation was now completely under control and no case had been registered yet against anyone. However, sources claimed a case had been registered against the owner of the elephants, Kamal Singh of Bulandshahr, and he may be arrested any time. Also, the police is searching for the absconding mahout.

It is still not clear if an NOC had been taken from the Forest Department for allowing the elephants to take part in the wedding procession. Sources said these two elephants were part of the wedding procession that included 13 elephants, 15 camels and 42 horses. 

Hyderabad, February 26
In an extraordinary gesture, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, congratulating batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for scoring the first-ever double century in one-day internationals (ODIs).

Chief Minister, K Rosaiah, moved the resolution hailing Tendulkar’s achievement and hoped that Sachin would bring many more laurels to the nation. The Leader of Opposition and Telugu Desam Party president, N Chandrababu Naidu, and floor leaders of all parties lauded the batting genius for his unbeaten 200 runs against South Africa in the second ODI at Gwalior .

“The Andhra Pradesh Assembly congratulates on your stupendous achievement. You have already become the highest run-getter in Test cricket history. Now, your double century, which created history in the One-day International cricket, is a moment of glory for the nation. It is a big day for Indian cricket as well. Keep it up,” the resolution said.

It was adopted amidst thumping of desks by the members. Speaker N Kirankumar Reddy, himself a cricketer who had played at inter-university level, said Sachin had made every Indian proud. “Normally, many young sportspersons burn out as they grow old. But, Sachin has proved that age is no criteria to judge a player,” Reddy said. 

New Delhi, February 26
A mysterious parcel with pieces of detonator was received by the office of Director General Border Security Force today setting alarm bells ringing in the security machinery here.

The parcel sent through a private courier company based in Sonepat, Haryana, was received in the CGO complex office here at 12.30 pm and sent the staff into a tizzy. It carried a book having a cavity in which pieces of detonators were detected. However, no explosives were found in it.

Showing presence of mind, the staff immediately informed the Delhi police that rushed its bomb squad to the spot along with sniffer dogs, souces said.

Director General Raman Srivastava is on tour to Meghalaya border today. The police has arrested the courier boy who delivered the parcel and the address of the courier company is being verified, they added.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has sought a detailed report of the incident from the border guarding force. — PTI

New Delhi, February 26
Top hospitals and medical colleges like the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and the Post Graduate Institute (PGI) in Chandigarh have got substantially less money in the coming fiscal as against the current financial year.

As per the 2010-11 Budget allocation, AIIMS will get Rs 800 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs 886.5 crore in 2009-10. The PGI, Chandigarh, too has been allocated Rs 82 crore less in the new budget. While in 2009-10, the medical college got an allocation of Rs 392 crore, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocated Rs 310 crore for the coming year. Similarly, Bangalore-based NIMHANS has been allocated Rs 113.38 crore, over Rs 12 crore less than last year.

The Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi has been allocated a sum of Rs 180 crore as against Rs 191 crore in 2009-10. Delhi-based Safdarjung Hospital has been allocated Rs 237 crore as against Rs 284 crore outlay in 2009-10. Likewise, Lady Hardinge Medical College has been allocated Rs 1 crore less in this Budget.

Puducherry-based Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research has been given a sum of Rs 252 crore as against an outlay of Rs 275 crore in 2009-10 fiscal.

Among the medical colleges which have got more money in this Budget is the Central Institute of Psychiatry in Ranchi. This institute has got Rs 36.18 crore as against Rs 33.89 crore in 2009-10.

In short, Centre-run hospitals have got an allocation of Rs 982.10 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs 1,020.33 crore in 2009-10 fiscal.

Similarly, the Centre-run medical education and research centres have got an allocation of Rs 2,678 crore in the coming fiscal as against Rs 2,699.41 crore in the 2009-10 fiscal. — IANS