|
|
|
|
Lohri in honour of the girl child
‘Pram walk’ enters book of records
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Two Dalits allege humiliation
Lobbying on for post of pollution board chief
Depot oil siphoned off to paint factory
Sirsa farmers lift dharna
Citibank fraud: Bail plea of Puri’s father rejected
Killing Of Leopard
|
|
Lohri in honour of the girl child
Karnal, January 13 Parents from all parts of the district had come to join the celebrations. The function was presided over by Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia and attended among others by noted film directors Mahesh Bhatt and Satish Kaushik. The Governor expressed concern over the “alarmingly low” female sex ratio in the state. He said though the female sex ratio was low in the country (927), it was lower in Haryana (824). The government had launched several schemes like “Ladli” but these had not helped in improving the female sex ratio. Pahadia said it was an irony that while women were worshipped like “devi” in the Indian culture, yet people were indulging in female foeticide. The Governor announced a sum of Rs 1 lakh from his discretionary funds to fight this menace. Earlier, he opened the function by lighting a bonfire to celbrate Lohri. Sarpanches of 23 villages in the district in which the birth rate of the girl child was more than the male child during the past two years were honoured by the Governor. The villages included Sarvan, Munak, Takhana, Badagaon, Arianpura, Chochra, Biyana, Nilokheri, Dadupur, Kunjpura, Dachar, Phaphrana, Kurlin, Shamgarh, Begumpur, Aungad, Sandhir, Kalsara, Narukheri, Uncha Sammana, Kaimla and Ardana. Civil Surgeon Vandana Bhatia was also honoured on the occasion for the corporation rendered by the department. Speaking on the occasion, film director Mahesh Bhatt lauded the initiative taken by NIFAA and said he was trying his bit to save the girl child by attending such functions. He said he had made a film, “Tamanna”, which conveyed a strong message against female foeticide. He said these model villages should serve as an example for urban areas where the number of cases of female foeticide was on a rise. Satish Kaushik, director-cum-actor, exhorted people to make the campaign against female foeticide a mass movement and work for changing the mindset of the people. The chairman of NIFAA, Pritpal Singh Pannu, said this was the sixth Lohri function celebrated by the organisation and said the number of participating baby girls was increasing every year. He said fixed deposits of Rs 5,100 would be made in the name of five baby girls for 10 years and they would get the money after the FDs matured. Interestingly, the parents of baby girls remained in the background at the function and it virtually turned into a function of politicians, bureaucrats and sponsors. There were no arrangements for milk for the children. |
|
‘Pram walk’ enters book of records
Karnal, January 13 The “pram walk” organised by NIFAA surpassed the record of another such endeavour (306 prams) by Mother Center Hviezdicka, Slovakia, on May 13, 2006, making its way into the Guinness Book of World Records. The prams carrying infants below the age of two made a 1.6 km-long chain from NDRI to the Karan Stadium. The DC, Neelam Pradeep Kasni, and the SP, Rakesh Arya, flagged off the walkamids slogans in favour of the girl-child. Mothers from poor families were provided prams at heavy discounts. One of the mothers, Seema, read out a poem. All the participants were issued a certificate and children winning the first, second and third positions awarded Rs 11,000, Rs 5100 and Rs 3100, respectively. |
|
|
Two Dalits allege humiliation
Sirsa, January 13 Though sarpanch Jagdeep Singh denies the incident, the Indian Bahujan Sandesh Party (Kanshi Ram) today gave an ultimatum to the authorities to register an FIR under the SC and ST Act against the accused by January 20 or face an agitation. Karnail Singh Odhan, state president of the party held a press conference today. He alleged that the police had refused to entertain the complaint of the victims, Makhan Singh and Jagseer Singh. He said he had visited the Dabwali police station as well as the SP’s office here, requesting that a case be registered. While the police personnel at Dabwali said the SHO was away, the guard outside the SP’s office did not allow them to meet the officer though they waited outside for over an hour. The party had announced that Kanta Alaria, national president of the IBSP (Kanshi Ram), would address the press conference, but she did not turn up. Later, talking on the phone, she said she was held up at Kurukshetra due to the fog. Makhan Singh and Jagseer Singh alleged that they were beaten up in the presence of the village sarpanch and then paraded in the village on January 8. However, the sarpanch claimed that the two were found “stealing cotton” and that they had confessed their crime before the village panchayat. The SP, Satinder Kumar Gupta, said the police had not received any complaint on the matter and that anyone could meet him during the office hours. |
|
Lobbying on for post of pollution board chief
Chandigarh, January 13 Sources in the Environment Department say that Chahal’s term, which began on January 30, 2008, is slated to end on January 29, 2011. However, Chahal maintains that his term should be counted from the day the board was notified about it (that is from November 2008), implying thereby that his term ends in November this year. The government is yet to take a call on this though sources in the department maintain that they are set to bid him adieu this month and a new incumbent will take over by the beginning of February. Officials maintain that they are not eager to “retain” the 74-year-old Chahal and would want a more dynamic chairman. Chahal courted controversy from the very beginning and seemed always on the wrong side of the then Minister of State for Forests and Environment, Kiran Choudhry. A number of court cases were filed challenging his appointment. Sources maintain that with Chahal’s age not on his side, he can’t be expected to multi-task whereas the post demands so, especially since it deals with a subject as sensitive as environment. The sources say that while the ban on polythene seems to exist on paper only, the role of the board in checking the rising pollution level in the Yamuna and the pollution caused by the dyeing units in Panipat is far from satisfactory. But Chahal feels that he has accomplished much. “I started out hoping to ensure a cleaner and greener environment for the people. We have held seminars all over the state to create awareness on the need to preserve environment. I have personally organised surprise checks to ensure polluting units fall in line,” he explains. He says his biggest achievement has been creating awareness among the farmers on the dangers of using pesticides, weedicides and fertilisers in excess. Chahal claims he strived to wipe out corruption and reduce the pendency of cases placed before the board for clearance. “Irrespective of when my term ends, I will go as and when I get the orders,” he says. |
|
Depot oil siphoned off to paint factory
Jind, January 13 A police official said there had been reports that some ration depots were siphoning off kerosene to be sold in the open market. Civil supply employees in connivance with depot-holders reportedly diverted a large quantity of kerosene and other items to the open market each month. The police had recently recovered several quintals of wheat from private floor mills that belonged to the ration depots. Meanwhile, in another raid last night, the police recovered over 4 kg of opium from Rajbir in Haat village and 250 gm of opium from Hansraj in Singhana village. |
|
Sirsa farmers lift dharna
Sirsa, January 13 The farmers lifted their dharna in the presence of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, though their leaders said they were not happy with the award announced for their land. In the award announced by the land acquisition officer yesterday, the farmers have been offered a basic price of Rs 50 lakh per acre for their land acquired for a HUDA sector and an industrial sector of the HSIIDC. With 30 per cent solatium and 12 per cent additional amount, the farmers will get almost Rs 82 lakh per acre for their land. Farmers, whose land is located farther from the town, appeared happy with the award announced by the LAO and said it was better than they had hoped for, though some others were not pleased. “We are not satisfied with the award, but there can be no fight with the might of the government,” lamented Pooran Singh, patron of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti that led the 108-day-long agitation. He said they had to lift the dharna today as a section of the farmers was happy with the award. He gave information sought from the tehsildar under the RTI Act, and claimed that the average price for which land had been sold in Khairpur from February 2007 to December 2007 was Rs 94.73 lakh per acre, which was much higher than the basic award of Rs 50 lakh per acre announced by the government yesterday. |
|
Citibank fraud: Bail plea of Puri’s father rejected
Gurgaon, January 13 Opposing the anticipatory bail plea, the public prosecutor argued that Raghuraj Puri was an accomplice in the case as Rs 50 crore of the scam money was deposited by Shivraj Puri in a firm named Norman Martin, of which Raghuraj Puri was one of the directors. Additional District and Sessions Judge Subhash Goel rejected Raghuraj Puri’s plea. Shivraj Puri, who worked as a relationship manager with Citibank, is already in police custody. |
|
Killing Of Leopard
Faridabad, January 13 It has also sent a legal notice to the Chief Wildlife Warden under Section 55 of the Act. The NGO has noted that shooters from the Wildlife Department failed to tranquilise the big cat that was killed in the presence of the district authorities, including the Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad. The leopard had killed a woman and injured another person. |
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
