Kurukshetra, August 31
Kurukshetra boy Pradeep Kumar, who had gone to Georgia for a three-month course in hotel management, has been kidnapped by “agents”, who have not released him despite payment of ransom.

Twenty-year-old Pradeep had gone to Georgia for the course on the assurance from his “agent” that he would get a job there after three months. This did not happen and he fell into the trap of some “agents” who further left him to the mercy of a third agent.

Somwati, Pradeep’s mother, said her son was being held captive by the “third agent” who had asked for Rs 1 lakh and threatened to break her son’s limbs in case he was not paid the money. The distraught family members somehow arranged for the money but Pradeep was not released even after the ransom was paid. “They have taken away his passport, visa, ticket and other documents... His whereabouts are not known. We are traumatised. “We just keep praying for his safe return,” she said, crying bitterly. Rajinder, brother of Pradeep, said: “He called us three days ago to inform that he had been held captive in a house in Istanbul. There has been no contact thereafter.”

Pradeep’s father is bed-ridden. The family was happy when Pradeep left for Georgia three months ago, hoping that he would be able to earn a living and support the family, but little did they know what was in store for them.

The family members today met the Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal, and sought government help to ensure Pradeep’s safe return.

Jind, August 31
Teachers of the two government colleges here staged a demonstration in protest against the alleged manhandling of the principal of Government College, Mahendragarh, by a gunman of the DC. They demanded legal action and transfer of the DC and his gunman. They also asked the government to withdraw the case against the principal.

Demanding a probe into the incident, the teachers threatened an indefinite stir on the matter if the government failed to act.

The principal of the Mahendragarh coege has been booked in two cases - one registered on the complaint of a tehsildar and the other on the complaint of the gunman of the DC.

Though the principal lodged a counter-complaint, no case has been registered against the DC, his gunman and the tehsildar.

Bhiwani: In protest against the alleged manhandling of Principal SK Tyagi,, lecturers of Chaudhary Bansi Lal Government College, Loharu, continued their dharna for the second day in a row. They demanded action against the gunman and threatened to continue the stir till action was taken.

Haryana Government College Teachers Association media coordinator Prof Attar Singh Sheoran said principal Tyagi was “beaten up” without any provocation. This was an insult to the entire teaching community.

He demanded that the DC be suspended and legal action initiated against his gunman.

REWARI: College teachers staged a state-level dharna under the auspices of the Haryana Government College Teachers Association (HGCTA) in the mini-secretariat complex in Narnaul on Tuesday in protest against the alleged manhandling of Dr SK Tyagi, principal of Government College, Mahendragarh, by Kulwant Singh, gunman of Vikas Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Mahendragarh district, in his presence in the principal's office at Mahendragarh recently.

Addressing the demonstrators, Rajender Kumar, President, HGCTA, ruefully said while the DC's "connivance" in the incident had hurt the exalted dignity of the teacher in society, the "negative" role played by tehsildar BD Bishnoi too needed condemnation from all quarters.

Demanding stringent action against the accused, the he warned that if the state government persisted in its policy of recalcitrance, they would be compelled to intensify their agitation. 

Chandigarh, August 31
The state vigilance bureau will wrap up the probe into the selection of Haryana Civil Services officers (executive branch and allied services) within six months. The selections being probed into were carried out in pursuance of an advertisement dated January 24, 2004.

An undertaking to this effect was given by the state of Haryana before the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a petition filed by selected candidates. They were aggrieved by the state’s action of issuing a fresh advertisement without waiting for the outcome of the inquiry.

Taking up the petition filed by Bharat Bhushan of Kaithal and five others, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “Their selection is under a cloud and the matter has also been referred for inquiry by the vigilance. “The cause for filing the petition is an advertisement issued for filling up the vacancies of HCS (executive branch and allied services) in the state for which the petitioners were selected, but not appointed because of the inquiry.

“Their grievance is that on one hand the state is not completing the vigilance inquiry, which is in progress for the past so many years and on the other hand the state has started the process of filling up the posts for which the petitioners were selected.

“The plea is that if the state is allowed to fill up the posts, the rights of the petitioners for appointment will be seriously prejudiced.”

Justice Ranjit Singh added though the state had initially not come up with any firm statement with regard to the completion of the vigilance inquiry, an affidavit had been filed that the inquiry would be completed within six months. Dismissing the petition, Justice Ranjit Singh concluded: “Needless to observe that the selection being under cloud, the appointment would depend upon the outcome of the inquiry.”

The probe into the selections carried out in 2001, 2003 and 2004 has also placed the examiners in the dock.

Ambala, August 31
The CBI court, Ambala, framed charges against the kingpin in the kidney scam, Dr Amit Kumar, and eight other accused today. All nine accused - Dr Amit, Dr Jeevan, Dr Upender, Dr KK Aggarwal, Dr Surge, Linda, Jagdesh, Gyasudeen and Manoj - were present in the court of special judge AS Narang.

The court framed charges against Dr Amit under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 342 , 326, 417,506 and Sections 19 and 20 of the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994.

The CBI, in its charge sheet filed on April 29, 2008, had stated that the accused would lure innocent people and take them to a hospital in Gurgaon and other places where their kidneys were removed. The removed kidneys were sold at high prices to the needy, including persons from abroad, and were transplanted at inflated rates.

The CBI stated in the charge sheet that cases pertaining to the removal of kidneys were also registered against Dr Amit and his brother Jeevan in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and some other states. They cheated around 500 persons.

Sirsa, August 31
Thirtyeight-year-old Gurdeep Singh has spent the last 17 years of his life in chains. The poor man is not serving a prison sentence, but has been kept in chains for all these years by his family in Panniwala Ruldu village as he is mentally ill.

His family members have tied him to a charpoy in a dingy room adjacent to the space where the family keeps its cattle.

Gurdeep’s existence is confined to this room measuring less than 100 square feet. His charpoy is dragged outside during the day to allow him some fresh air. Gurdeep is youngest of the three sons of widow Harbans Kaur (65). “His father died long back and his elder

brother Kuldeep, who worked in a telephone exchange, died some time back. “Now, the burden of the family, comprising 12 members, is on my son Sukhpal Singh, who has a meagre income,” explained Harbans Kaur.

“Gurdeep was an infant when he fell into a water storage tank an became unconscious. After treatment, he was cured. He attended school till Class V. However, he lost his mental balance after the death of his father and turned aggressive,” she said. Gurdeep was 17 when his father, a gauge reader in the irrigation department, died. She said she did not have the means to show him to a psychiatrist and, hence, had to keep him chained.

Hisar, August 31
Environment Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said here today that the government planned to check the use of plastic bags strictly.

Addressing a meeting of government officers here, he said despite the ban, the use of plastic bags was on the increase. He directed the officers to implement the ban strictly and take action against offenders.

Yadav said the government would shortly launch a campaign to increase awareness about the harmful effects of plastic bags. During this campaign, jute and cotton cloth bags would be distributed free of cost to encourage their use.

He said tehsildars and subdivisional magistrates had been given special powers to act against those using plastic bags.

The minister asked officials to ensure that all water reservoirs in both urban and rural areas were filled to capacity for use during the coming months. This was necessary to ensure adequate supply of water for drinking and household use.

He regretted that despite paying more to its employees than the private sector, people had no faith in government institutions. Government schools lacked students and hospitals were without patients. He appealed to them to work diligently to win back public support.

Sirsa, August 31
Under a project to make waterlogged areas of Sirsa fit for cultivation, the Haryana Forests Department has decided to plant 2 lakh saplings of cloned eucalyptus on over 1,000 hectares of agriculture land.

Waterlogged lands of Ludesar, Nathusari Chaupta, Darba Kalan and Keranwali villages have been selected for the purpose. The Forest Department will bear the cost of plantation under the scheme.

Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan said initially the department would take care of plants and thereafter the farmers concerned would look after them.

The farmers would have the right to sell these trees after four or five years.

The scheme would not only provide financial benefit to the farmers, but would also relieve them of the problem of waterlogging, he added.

Under the scheme, saplings of eucalyptus are planted over an area where the underground water level is up to 10 ft.

The underground water is sucked by the eucalyptus trees thereby relieving the farmers of the menace of waterlogging.

As many as 3.25 lakh saplings of eucalyptus trees would be planted in the fields of farmers under the farm forestry and social farm forestry schemes in the district, the DC added.

Karnal, August 31
In a significant development that will go a long way in imparting scientific and technological education through distance education mode, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) for establishing mutual relations between “scientific and technical” divisions of twin organisations.

As per the MoU, IGNOU and NDRI will share expertise in developing and implementing open and distance learning (ODL) and information and communication technology (ICT) approaches and methods and materials.

Sharing infrastructure and other facilities for expanding the educational network and training of students, sharing of faculty members as counsellors/teachers/research supervisors for development and delivery of programmes and exchanging scientific literature and to undertake extension activities, including exchange of students, were also covered in the MoU.

The MoU will also facilitate developing and delivering the educational programmes in need-based areas and undertaking research studies in mutually agreed areas.

A committee headed by the Vice-Chancellor of the IGNOU committee will be constituted for the implementation and monitoring of the MoU. Prof BS Hansra and Prof MK Salooja of the School of Agriculture will represent IGNOU in the committee while Dr AA Patel and Dr Jancy Gupta will represent the NDRI.

Kurukshetra: Kurukshetra University yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) providing for academic collaboration and exchange of information between faculty and students of Kurukshetra University and scientists at the DIPR.

Under the MoU, DIPR will be a “research affiliate” of Kurukshetra University and the two institutions will conduct joint programmes, including courses and training of students. Both the institutions will share lab facilities.

Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University Dr DDS Sandhu stressed the need to bridge the gap between defence, academia and industry. The MoU was an effort in this direction which would go a long way in enhancing research avenues in applied behavioural psychology, he added.

Chandigarh, August 31
To ensure adequate power supply to consumers during September, the Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) has made short-term arrangements for procuring electricity through banking.

A spokesman for the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam said here today that it had been decided to arrange 200 MW of power from NVVN, West Bengal, and 100 MW from the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) daily.

Besides, 43 MW of power would be available to the state on the return-banking basis from the HPSEB.

He said the Haryana power utilities would continue to supply power for more than the time schedule fixed for different categories of consumers. At present, there were instructions to supply electricity to agricultural tubewell consumers for eight hours, industrial consumers for 16 hours, urban domestic consumers for 20 hours and to rural domestic consumers for 12 hours daily. The utilities, on an average, had supplied electricity to agricultural tubewells for 8 hours and 26 minutes, industrial consumers for 21 hours 52 minutes, urban domestic consumers for 22 hours 45 minutes and to rural domestic consumers for 12 hours 24 minutes daily during August. The spokesman said the utilities, on an average, had supplied 1,057 lakh units of electricity daily in the state in August. — TNS