Kaithal, June 17
Keeping in view the bumper production of wheat in the country especially in Haryana and to ensure its safe storage, the Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution will construct storage depots with a storage capacity of more than 20 lakh tonnes.

Secretary, Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution, Sudhir Kumar, said this after inspecting ‘silos’ constructed by Adani Group in Solumajra, near Kaithal, today. He said proper storage facility was necessary to store foodgrains for longer periods and to save these from rains and ill-effects of adverse climatic conditions.

He said after inspecting the storage process of all 24 ‘silos’ constructed by Adani Group in the entire country, he was reviewing the system through which wheat was being carried to various depots located in Mumbai and South India through the railways.

He said to maintain the quality of foodgrains and to improve the storage capacity, such storage depots were constructed in the country, but keeping in view the technical progress in storage procedure, there is need to construct more such modern storage depots. These would save the foodgrains from damage caused by extreme weather conditions.

He said the storage depot at Solumajra was started as a pilot project in 2005 and international tenders were invited for it. This storage depot constructed over an area of 22 acres had a capacity to store about 2.25 lakh metric tonnes of wheat. From this base depot, wheat was being sent to depots located at New Mumbai, Hugli, Chennai, Coimbatore and Mangalore to maintain the public distribution system of these areas, he added.

The Additional Chief Secretary, Food and Supplies Department, Shakuntala Jakhu, and senior officers of the Food Corporation of India and the Food and Supplies Department, Haryana, were also present.

Rohtak, June 17
Suspense continues over the move of the relatives and the residents of the two villages of Rohtak and Jhajjar districts after a young couple eloped and married against the wishes of their parents recently. The couple belongs to different castes and is lodged at a shelter home under police protection here.

A panchayat that was held on Wednesday had called upon the couple to sever their relationship as it described the inter-caste alliance as non-acceptable. The panchayat had reportedly decided to convene another meeting today.

The boy hails from Shimli village and belongs to a Dalit community while the girl is a Jat, a resident of Bhambewa village of Jhajjar district.

“While the couple has reportedly decided to
stick to their marriage and not to bow down to any social pressure, it is reported that the parents of the girl had convened a meeting of the panchayat earlier as they had told the village elders that the alliance was not acceptable to them,” claimed a resident of Shimli village.

It is learnt that the panchayat was unanimous in opposing the relationship. It refrained from issuing any direct diktat about snapping of their ties on that occasion but had supported the resolution to convene a bigger panchayat to create pressure. “The panchayat was expected to be held today but could not be held due to reasons unknown,” claimed a villager on condition of anonymity.

The couple had been having an affair for the past some time as both were students in the same collage. They fled from their houses last week and tied the knot in a court. The panchayat members called both families and urged them to persuade their children to abide by social traditions.

When the girl’s parents came to know about the incident, they approached the social panchayat to intervene, pleading that the marriage was in utter violation of the family tradition. Both the panchayat members and the couple have refused to talk to the media on the issue in view of the high court directions to take action against such extra judicial authorities who issued diktats on such matters.

Rohtak, June 17
Rohtak is set to get a new identity from next month as it will have the first state-level lawn tennis academy functioning here from July 15. The training of the young aspirants will be looked after by Jaideep Mukherjee, a former international player and a prominent national-level coach at present.

A spokesperson for the Sports Department said the academy known as the Haryana Lawn Tennis Academy would be the first such facility in the state that would be bearing the cost of the training of the selected talent across the state. He said 20 trainees in the age group of eight to 12 years had been selected recently. The selection was made by a panel comprising experts and veteran players on June 13 in which around 60 players took part.

The spokesman said Mukherjee, who had coached several national and international-level players, including Leander Paes, would be the head coach of the academy. The academy has been set up on the premises of the newly set up Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex here and it would become formally functional from July 15.

The academy would be only day boarding at present, though the government plans to extend residential and lodging facilities in future. It would be providing all basic facilities, including sports kits, ground infrastructure and all amenities required for the players and coaches at no cost.

Some of the officials of the state Sports Department, including PC Gupta and tennis coach, Rajender Gupta, would be assisting Mukherjee in training the young players. However, according to officials concerned, the first lot of the selected players hail only from Rohtak and some of the neighbouring districts, including Jhajjar and Sonepat, as the academy has no hostel or lodging facilities at present.

Sirsa, June 17
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Speaker of Haryana Assembly Kuldeep Sharma and a large number of political leaders paid tributes to former minister Lachhman Dass Arora in a condolence meeting and ‘Rasam Pagri’ organised at the Surkhab Tourist Complex here today.

Arora had died on June 5 in a private hospital after a protracted illness. Hooda said Arora, who represented Sirsa in the state Assembly on five occasions and held several key portfolios in the ministry, not only contributed in the development of Sirsa alone but worked for the progress of Haryana as a whole.

Describing Arora’s death as his personal loss, Hooda said the former minister was like an elder brother to him. The Chief Minister tied a ‘pagri’ on Arora’s eldest daughter, Sunita Setia, a former chairperson of the Sirsa Improvement Trust.

Kuldeep Sharma also paid tributes on behalf of the state Assembly and said the former minister’s contribution to Haryana’s progress was immense.

Kaithal, June 17
The All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti today resolved to intensify its agitation from September 13 in support of reservation for Jats in government jobs. The samiti took this decision at a “Jat Akrosh Rally” held in the local new anaj mandi today.

The rally also targeted Haryana PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala for his alleged negative role in the the ongoing tug-of-war between the state government and the pro-reservation Jat body. The samiti announced its decision to boycott Surjewala and the participants raised their hands to extend support to the resolutions.

Yash Pal Malik, samiti president, Dharam Pal Chhot, president of the Haryana Unit, Kari Mohammad, president of the UP unit, Karnail Singh, president of the Punjab unit, Hans Raj Punia, president of the Rajasthan unit and samiti office-bearers from various districts of Haryana and neighbouring states were among those who addressed this rally.

Malik said it was strange that Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda along with other Jat leaders had called on the Union Home Minister P Chidambram and urged him to take steps to ensure reservation for Jats. But Hooda government itself had not taken any step to enforce reservation for the community in the state.

He said neither the Centre nor Haryana were serious on the issue. But they would no longer tolerate this “injustice” and were ready for any sacrifice. The speakers at the rally said that Jats’ anger would be clearly reflected in the next Lok Sabha elctions in which the governments denying reservation to the community would fail to win in the Jat-dominated constituencies. In other elections, too, the Jats would teach a lesson to those who were not accepting their demand for reservations.

Chhot said the government had failed to withdraw cases registered against those who participated in the pro-reservation agitation. Jat leaders from Rajasthan, Punjab and UP also threatened to intensify the agitation in their respective states if the authorities failed to implement reservations for their community. 

Sirsa, June 17
RP Goyal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, has sentenced Dinesh of Faifana village in Rajasthan to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh for trafficking of poppy husk.

The convict will have to serve a further imprisonment for three years if he fails to pay the fine.

The police had arrested Dinesh and Balbir Singh on December 31, 2007, with 80 kg of poppy husk near Madhosinghana village. Balbir died during the course of trial. 

Chandigarh, June 17
Seven persons, including three doctors and two nurses, have been arrested following a raid at an ultrasound centre in Yamunanagar last night as they were found violating the PNDT Act.

A spokesman for the Health Department said a raid was conducted last night at Dr Kailash Sharma’s house. He was running Shivalik Ultrasound Centre in Jagadhari. An unregistered ultrasound machine was found their and it was being used to determine the gender of foetus.

He said one such machine had already been seized. The police reached the spot and arrested Dr Sharma, Dr Parampreet Kaur of a hospital in Brara, Dr Saroj, alias Shashi, of Rana Hospital, Dosadka, as well as Suman and Asha who were working as nurses. The police also arrested Reena of Hema Majra village and Seema of Ghillaur village, who had come to get the gender of the foetus determined.

The two lady doctors and two nurses have been granted bail whereas Dr Sharma has been sent to jail. — TNS

Sirsa, June 17
In view of the recent exposures with regard to the Rohtak-based “Apna Ghar” and some other shelter homes in Haryana, the authorities here have directed all orphanages, Nari Niketans and children homes to get themselves registered under the Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act.

In the directions issued to all such shelter homes situated in the district, the Sirsa Deputy Commissioner, Dr J Ganesan, asked the managements of these homes to apply for their registration before June 20.

He said as per Section 13 of the Orphanage and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act, no shelter home could be permitted to run unless it was registered. Violators could face punishment of jail or fine or both under Section 24 of the Act. 

Fatehabad, June 17
The police today booked over 50 villagers for rioting and other sections of the IPC for demolishing boundary mesh of a disputed land at Dhingsara village in Fatehabad.

The persons booked by the police include a former sarpanch Subhash Jakhar, Devi Lal, Preet Pal, Bajrang and 50 to 60 villagers. Captain Sudhir Singh, who claims to be owner of the land, had lodged the complaint.

Villagers led by the former sarpanch have been agitating against the authorities demanding restoration of the land, which they claim is meant for village common purposes.

The villagers had served a 48-hour ultimatum to the authorities on Friday and had threatened to remove the “encroachment”, if the authorities failed to act. — TNS