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Reliance SEZ grounded, failure of UPA policy
Sexual exploitation of HIV-affected girls
Sonepat Jailbreak |
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Eleventh Plan
Schools to submit affidavits on buses by today
3 more endangered black bucks found dead
Three more held for looting Rs 7 lakh
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Reliance SEZ grounded, failure of UPA policy
Chandigarh, January 18 The SEZ policy initially created euphoria in the country. As a result, many real state developers jumped on the bandwagon, announcing their intentions to set up big SEZs to the tune of 10,000 acre each. However, when the contours of the SEZ policy unfolded, it became evident that the policy was based on the principle of leasing. A developer would not only have to purchase the land but also construct buildings along with other infrastructure. The real estate developers did not find the proposition lucrative enough. Many of them like the DLF and Unitech quietly withdrew from the scene. Others like the Reliance, which had a head start over the others when the Haryana Government agreed to transfer about 1,383 acre acquired by the HSIIDC to it, encountered the problems of land acquisition. Sabeer Bhatia, who wanted to set up a nano city near Panchkula, also abandoned his plans when he could not purchase land. Reliance had originally planned to set up a 25,000-acre SEZ, which would have been the biggest of its kind in the country. Meanwhile, the government had to face lot of flak from the Opposition for allegedly acquiring the fertile land of farmers to favour industrial houses. This impression gained ground because the government had allowed a large number of 25-acre IT SEZs. According to one estimate, the share of IT SEZs was about 70 per cent of the total proposals received by the government. The criticism led Congress president Sonia Gandhi to declare at the Nainital conclave of her party Chief Ministers that no fertile land should be acquired for the SEZs. After this admonishment from the party supremo, the UPA government changed its tacks. The maximum size of the SEZs was reduced to 12,500 acre. Reliance got the approval to set up two SEZs of 12,500 acre each in Jhajjar and Gurgaon district. Though the Reliance purchased about 7,100 acres in Jhajjar district on its own, the contiguity remains a problem. Under its policy the government can purchase up to 25 per cent of the total required land to ensure contiguity, but fearing adverse political reaction, it has not done so. Talks had been going on for the past about two months between Reliance and the government on the Gurgaon land transferred to the industrial house by the HSIIDC. The government was putting pressure on Reliance to start its project in Gurgaon. Last evening Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda clearly told the Reliance Chairman, Mukesh Ambani, to return the land as envisaged in the joint-venture agreement. According to a source privy to the talks, both parties have agreed to “divorce through mutual consent”. Now only the terms of alimony are to be finalised. Once the land is returned, it will mean the death of Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd, a special purpose vehicle set up for the project. With this, the 10 per cent sweat equity of the HSIIDC in the project will also end. The HSIIDC will also surrender its 10 per cent sweat equity in the Jhajjar project, which is now being developed as the model economic township by Reliance in collaboration with the IL&FS. |
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Sexual exploitation of HIV-affected girls
Gurgaon, January 18 One of the victims is HIV-positive herself, while the other was staying at the protection home as her parents were HIV-infected. Since the accused is HIV-positive, there is a strong possibility of the HIV-negative girl having contracted the HIV infection. Her blood samples have been sent for pathological examination. The matter pertains to Drone Foundation, an NGO which claims to support HIV-affected orphan children and is based at Maruti Kunj in Bhondsi near here. The protection home of the NGO housed nearly 15 inmates, including adolescent boys and girls. Ankur Gupta, the son of NGO president Sunita Gupta and board member of the NGO himself, allegedly used to sexually exploit some inmates. Ankur is also stated to be HIV-positive. He also allegedly threatened them with dire consequences in case they revealed the matter before anybody. A couple of girls approached the NGO president and apprised her of the matter, but to no avail. Rather, the girls were allegedly warned against disclosing the matter. Finally, Bobby Sharma, a staffer at the NGO, reported the matter to Bharti Sharma, a former chairperson of the Child Welfare Council. She approached Shakti Vahini, a national voluntary organisation, engaged in the protection of child rights, and informed about the case. Shakti Vahini executive director Nishi Kant immediately brought the matter to the notice of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which deputed two officials to investigate the matter. The NCPCR officials, along with Nishi Kant, Bharti Sharma, Gurgaon District Child Protection Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Gurgaon) raided the NGO premises. Two girls, aged 12 and 14 years, told the team members that they were being sexually exploited by Ankur Gupta, who also threatened them with dire consequences in case they disclosed the matter. As many as 14 HIV-affected children were rescued from the protection home during the raid. However, Ankur Gupta could not be arrested as he was not present there. All eight girl inmates were relocated to Naz Foundation in Delhi after their medical examination. The boys’ custody was given to the Child Protection Officer. An FIR has been lodged under various sections of the IPC and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act in this regard. |
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Sonepat Jailbreak
Chandigarh, January 18 With 18 jails in the state bursting at the seams due to overcrowding, the Jail Department is reeling under acute staff shortage. This coupled with the delay in the installation of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the jails for stepped-up vigilance are primarily responsible for repeated
security lapses, sources said here today. In the Sonepat jail alone, about 900 inmates struggle for survival as against the capacity of around 235. Even the work on the installation of the CCTVs in the Sonepat jail is yet to be completed, sources said, adding that the Sonepat jail faced a shortage of 32 personnel in different wings. An ambitious plan to install CCTVs in the jail premises to keep a close watch on the activities of the inmates has only been partially implemented. The project, a joint venture of HARTRON and the police to keep a close eye on the activities of the undertrials, was
supposed to be completed in December. Meanhwhile, apart from today’s escape from the Sonepat jail, the undertrials have escaped from the police custody at will in the recent months. On April 15, 2011, six prisoners made a sensational escape by cutting iron grills of a window
in the lock-up room in the judicial courts complex in Hisar. On January 20 last year, seven undertrials from a group of 10, who were brought for a hearing at the judicial courts complex in Karnal from Kurukhetra, escaped from a police van near the complex. In a breach of security, 18 undertrials had escaped from a prison van of the Bhondsi jail after injuring three policemen when they were being taken to Palwal for being produced in court. Though Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda held the jail portfolio, yet not much attention seem to have been spared for the jail affairs.A high-level jail reforms committee appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently pointed out several deificiencies in the jail administration in the state. "In all these overcrowded jails, prisoners are treated as human garbage living in most pitiable and unhygienic conditions," the committee had said. |
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Eleventh Plan
New Delhi, January 18 Pitching in at the pre-Budget consultation with the Union Finance Ministry, state Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said Haryana had improved its physical infrastructure substantially without sacrificing the goals of the social sector. The per capita income of the state is the second highest, next only to Goa. Chatha suggested rectification of imbalances between the Centre and States in the allocation of central assistance for the state plans. Fiscally well managed States should be rewarded by assigning higher weightage to fiscal management, revenue generation and tax-collection efficiency, a spokesperson of the state said. Speaking on the issue of Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, Chatha suggested that an independent body should be set up to look into the claims of the various state governments in respect of GST compensation. Chatha told the Finance Ministry that due to the impact of climate change, the yields of several crops like wheat, soyabean, groundnut, mustard and potato. had become volatile. To develop food-crop varieties, which are resistant to droughts, floods and adaptable to alkaline and acidic soils, there was need for more investment in research and development. Chatha also suggested that the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) should be expanded to the entire state, instead of only seven districts at present. The cost of cultivation has increased manifold over the last two years, he said. To support a vegetable and horticulture hub near the National Capital, a terminal market at Rai near Sonepat is being developed. A one-time grant of Rs 1,500 crore is required to expeditiously implement this project. |
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Schools to submit affidavits on buses by today
Hisar, January 18 Meanwhile, the authorities impounded six school vehicles yesterday for violation of norms and overloading. Some of these buses did not have the name of the school painted on them. In other cases small Tata Ace vehicles meant to carry eight persons were caught carrying 17 schoolchildren. Several teams led by Additional Deputy Commissioner Ashok Kumar Meena checked the vehicles in different parts of the city. All vehicles found violating the norms were impounded. SONEPAT: The implementation of the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for streamlining the operation of school buses has become an issue between the traffic police and owners of the school vehicles. When the police has been challaning the school vehicles for violating the court’s directions in carrying students more than the allowed seating capacity, the vehicle owners had threatened to withdraw their vehicles from the school duty. More than 50 such vehicles have reportedly been challaned in the past two days for carrying students more than the seating capacity and violating the court directions. A delegation of the members of the school association today met Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal with a demand for relaxation in the court ‘s direction regarding carrying number of students in the vehicle and alleging that the vehicle drivers were being unnecessarily harassed by the police. The DC made it clear that there could not be any relaxation in the court’s directions; however, he assured that he would look into their complaint. Led by Rajiv Jain, state media in charge of the BJP, they also met Ram Kumar, District Inspector and in charge traffic police, to allow carrying students more than the seating capacity of the vehicle. But they did not get any assurance from the police authorities. |
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Labourer buried alive, 4 hurt as earth caves in
Karnal, January 18 The excavation work was in progress under MNREGA as about 80 labourers were at work when the mishap took place. Panic gripped the labourers and a JCB was called to remove the debris. All five labourers were taken out from the debris by the labourers with the help the villagers and taken to the to trauma centre in the Civil Hospital. One of the labourers, identified as Balbir Singh, alias Ballu, could not be saved and he died on the spot and was declared “brought dead” by the doctors. Four other labourers, including a woman, Shant Devi were admitted to the trauma centre in a critical condition and were stated to be out of danger. The other injured labourers were identified as Jagdish, Bharat Pandey and Arun Kumar. The SDM, Assandh, RK Singh, has ordered an inquiry into the mishap
and investigations are in progress. |
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3 more endangered black bucks found dead
Hisar, January 18 Earlier one black buck each was found dead in the area on January 10, 11 and 15. The first one had been shot by a hunter who could not retrieve the animal because the villagers came on the scene. The cause of death of the other two could not be determined. All three black bucks found dead yesterday had been mauled by wild dogs. It was not known whether the dogs had mauled tham alive or after the death. The deaths of six black bucks in a week have shocked the villagers of the area. Most of the villages in this area have a sizable population of members of the Bishnoi sect who have been protecting wildlife in the area for decades as this is one of the 29 tenets of their sect. The villagers have informed the Wildlife Department, but no action has been taken by the authorities so far. According to the villagers, there were about 300 black bucks remaining in the area. They said the species would be extinct soon if they were not protected against wild animals
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Measles catch-up campaign on in Sirsa, Fatehabad
Sirsa/Fatehabad, January 18 Ambala, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula and Yamunangar are the other districts where the campaign was launched from today. Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj, Civil Surgeon, Fatehabad, who inaugurated the campaign from Bal Vatika School, said all children between the age of nine months to 10 years are to be immunised against measles during this campaign, which will continue till February 8. He said in the first week of the drive, all children of this age group studying in the government and private schools of the district would be taken up. In the second week, children outside the school system, particularly those living in brick-kilns and ‘dhanis’ would be covered. Kamboj said in Fatehabad alone, 1,79,150 children would be immunised, out of which 1,02,975 are in 407 government and 330 private schools of the district. In Sirsa, though the Health Department launched the drive from today, the minister Gopal Kanda will formally inaugurate the programme tomorrow. KAITHAL: Deputy Commissioner A. Mona Sreeniwas launched the anti-measles campaign at OSDAV School here on Wednesday. As many as 2.32 lakh children in the 9 month-10 year age group will be vaccinated against the measles in Kaithal district during the campaign launched on Wednesday, which will continue till February 8. |
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Three more held for looting Rs 7 lakh
Faridabad, January 18 A motorcycle, two-country made pistols used in the crime and five cartridges had been recovered from them. Two other criminals, Hari Prakash of Gurgaon and Sunil of Pyala village in the district, had been arrested earlier. They are undergoing a prison term in a murder case. They committed the crime while on parole. |
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