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war against Female
foeticide
Gorakhpur N-plant |
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Team Anna members support farmers
7 thermal units down, power crisis worsens
Rewari Clashes — the trigger
Oppn wants Cong govt go
Villagers lock Power Dept staff
Lockout at Manesar plant hits landlords
Dry wells turning into death-traps
‘Olympics Rath’ reaches Kaithal
Guv, CM extend Teej greetings
CM congratulates Pranab Mukherjee
Dismiss Hooda govt, impose President’s rule: Chautala
Issuance
of RCs, driving licences
2 bodies recovered from canal
Lovers commit suicide
Sampat urges Oppn to support govt in public interest
INLD promises panel on trade, industry
Workers’ union opposes private cos
‘Surya Kund’ inaugurated
KU Class IV employees to go on leave today
Maruti arson: Key leader among 6 held
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Mahapanchayat resolves to save girl child
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Dhani Mian Khan (Fatehabad), July 22 Sushma Bhadu said the idea of holding this mahapanchayat struck her after reading about such panchayat at Bibipur village in Jind. Participants of the mahapanchayat, mostly woman sarpanches and panchayat members from some neighbouring villages, resolved to boycott families found indulging in female foeticide. “We will constitute a vigilance committee of villagers to keep an eye on pregnant women and report the matter to the authorities, if any case of female foeticide came to our notice,” said Bhadu, who has three small villages, Salem Khera, Chapla Mori and Dhani Mian Khan, under her belt. Terming the lack of education and awareness among women and dowry system responsible for parents’ choice for a male child, the mahapanchayat resolved to educate their girls to make them independent. “The mahapanchayat has also resolved that the girls belonging to poor families would get financial help to pursue their education and for this villagers would collect funds,” said Bhadu, who herself is educated up to Class VII only.A resolution was also passed to create awareness against dowry in the villages. The mahapanchayat also supported a resolution passed in Bibipur earlier this month that the perpetrators of female foeticide should be tried for murder under Section 302 of the IPC. Speakers also asked women to shun practices like ‘ghoongat’, as it was a hindrance in progress. Though the mahapanchayat was organised on the initiative of the woman sarpanch, it took the shape of an official function with SDM Baljit Singh, Civil Surgeon Dr SB Kamboj and Deputy Civil Surgeon Ramesh Chakarvarty occupying the centre stage. Dr Kamboj said Dhani Mian Khan already had a better sex ratio with 826 girls against 814 boys. He said the health authorities had launched a vigorous drive against ultrasound centres. The informers of such acts were rewarded with Rs 20,000.
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Gorakhpur N-plant
Fatehabad, July 22 Although the district authorities kept the office of the Land Acquisition Collector opened today despite a holiday and not a single farmer from Gorakhpur turned up for taking compensation. “Only one farmer from Badopal came today to collect a cheque for his two acres of land,” said an official . So far, owners of less than 170 acres out of the 1,313 acres coming under the acquisition from Gorakhpur have come forward to accept compensation ever since the authorities announced the award on July 18. While the authorities have been making all efforts to woo them, farmers have been staging a dharna on the banks of the Fatehabad branch of the Bhakra system near Kajalheri Head on the outskirts of Gorakhpur. “We will not allow any government official to come near our land,” announce villagers armed with lathis. Another dharna by farmers outside the mini-secretariat entered its 706th day today. Krishan (35), a farmer sitting on the dharna, was taken ill due to extreme hot conditions and shifted to the General Hospital here. Three farmers have so far lost their lives while sitting in the open under hostile weather conditions. The deadlock has falsified the official claims being made for the past two years that more than 70 per cent farmers were willing to give their land for the nuclear plant project.
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Team Anna members support farmers
Sonepat, July 22 Kejriwal said the farmers should not be deprived of their ancestral agriculture land to serve the interests of others, particularly the capitalist class. Before acquiring land, the government should convene a meeting of the gram sabha to take consent of the land owners. He said the government should not go ahead with acquisition until a common land acquisition policy was introduced by the Central government. Prashant Bhushan said Acharya Bal Krishan’s arrest was politically motivated to crush Baba Ramdev’s campaign against corruption and black money.
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7 thermal units down, power crisis worsens
Ambala, July 22 Sources in Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) said one unit each at Khedar and Jhajjar, which were operational till yesterday, tripped last night and the state had since plunged into a grave power crisis. The sources said the 600-MW unit at Khedar had to be shut down after a leakage in its boiler yesterday. The 660-MW Jhajjar unit had to be closed down due to coal handling problems. The two units at Khedar and Jhajjar are already under forced outage for the past few months due to turbine problem and coal shortage, respectively. The unit 4 of 110-MW capacity at the Panipat thermal power plant was also shut down last evening following the boiler leakage, this was followed by the shutting down of the 117.8-MW unit number 1 this morning due to some technical snag. However, the unit 1 was revived by afternoon. The two units of 300-MW capacities each at Yamunanagar were also shut down due to problems in the turbine and are not expected to be revived before November, the sources said. The power demand yesterday was around 1,450 lakh units while there was a shortage of more than 225 lakh units. Senior officials of the HPGCL maintained that the position was likely to ease out by next week as both units of the Khedar thermal power plant were expected to resume generation. It was also claimed that the turbine blades of unit 1 had been repaired. Meanwhile, power shortage has resulted in an increase in unscheduled power cuts of long duration, causing inconvenience to domestic and industrial consumers.
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Rewari Clashes — the trigger
Rewari, July 22 In 2010, notices under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act were issued to the land-owners of these villages whose land had been identified for the purpose. However, villagers allege that several chunks of land owned by certain influential and politically connected persons were left out of the acquisition process. The villagers, who did not want to part with their fertile land, began opposing the acquisition process. Taking advantage of the situation, some real estate developers and other vested interests also started making their moves. Around a month ago, a squad of the Town and Country Planning Department went to Moti ki Dhani near Aasalwas village near Bawal to earmark the land under acquisition and demolish constructions coming up on it in an unauthorised manner. However, local residents resisted the move and assaulted the team members. Following this, the villagers’ opposition to acquisition proceedings took the form of an organised protest. On June 20, the protesters issued a 20-day ultimatum to the authorities concerned to cancel the decision to acquire land. They demanded that the acquisition proceedings be stalled till a Central law on land acquisition was enacted. The protesting villagers also approached the state authorities through the district administration. Playing their part, politicians owing allegiance to different parties reached out to villagers and supported their protest. However, notices under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act were issued to the farmers whose land was under acquisition. This enraged the farmers, who were expecting to get some relief after having apprised the state authorities of their concerns. Angry villagers moved to the Rewari mini-secretariat and began their dharna there. However, when they did not get a satisfactory response for five days, they barged into the secretariat and clashed with police personnel there. Some police personnel allegedly threw stones at the protesters from the roof of the building, which infuriated the mob and it went on a rampage. Several farmers as well as some police personnel were injured in the clash. Stringent criminal cases of rioting, attempt to murder, assault and abetment to crime etc were slapped on the protesting farmers. The farmers called for a bandh at Rewai and Bawal, but it did not evoke much response, especially in view of the heavy police posse deployed at all strategic points in the towns. Following this, the protesting farmers convened a mahapanchayat at Aasalwas village today, which culminated in more violent protests.
Oppn wants Cong govt go
Chandigarh, July 22 INLD general secretary Ajay Singh Chautala said that the government was responsible for the complete collapse of law and order. HJC supremo and MP Kuldeep Bishnoi said that the government had no justification in cane-charging unarmed farmers who were unwilling to let their land acquired. “We have sought time from the Haryana Governor to reiterate our demand that cultivable land should not be acquired by the government.” Bishnoi said.
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Villagers lock Power Dept staff
Karnal, July 22 The villagers alleged that they were getting power for only three hours and that too interrupted due to overload and technical snags, making lives of the people miserable. “The village remained without power for the entire night and with no response from the Vidyut Nigam officials, the villagers were compelled to take this extreme step,” said a villager. The power utility employees attributed the power cut to some technical snag at the joint and said the employees were at work to rectify the snag but the villagers refused to understand our problem despite the fact that their men were on the job since this morning. The villagers were also upset because enough power was not supplied for sowing of paddy. The Karnal-Indri road remained blocked for four hours causing considerable inconvenience to commuters. The villagers were adamant and demanded that the SDO and the Executive Engineer should come to the spot, but both of them were unavailable. The villagers then asked the officials to call the Supertending Engineer and the Deputy Commossioner. The Tehsildar, Hari Ram, had tough time in persuading the mob to free the staff and lift the blockade, which was lifted after a written assurance of proper power supply were given to them.
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Lockout at Manesar plant hits landlords
Gurgaon, July 22 Worried over the exodus of labourers on account of the lockout, villagers are keen on participating in tomorrow’s mahapanchayat scheduled at Aniyar Dhana village. Many workers have been arrested and some are absconding to evade arrest. Even those not involved in the incident have left for their native places causing a financial loss to the landowners as almost all Maruti employees have been living in rented accommodation. A visit to nearby areas reveal that every single household has an average of two to three workers living as paying guests or tenants and are paying minimum Rs 2,500 per month each. Many residents have kept these workers as tenants and are earning anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. Police sources said the loss of this steady and easy income is one of the reasons for the overwhelming support to the mahapanchayat. “The local politics which has started in the form of resident support is creating hassles rather than helping us. The company has been in trouble for almost a year now. The residents were least bothered when there was a strike for almost two months but now when because of this the regular income is being affected, they have woken up to show their support,” said a senior police official. The police has also blamed residents for not getting the tenants verified which appears to be a major roadblock in ongoing investigation. “Everybody is blaming the police for not catching the key accused, but the fact that their addresses are not correct is the major hindrance in the way. While Manesar residents have made huge money by keeping these workers as tenants, none of them bothered to get any police verification done. Had this exercise been done, it would have not only been easy to nab the culprits but would have also acted as a deterrent for their violent actions. When the mahapanchyat is held tomorrow, the police will urge the residents to decide on getting all their tenants verified,” added the officials. The police has so far not been able to catch the key accused for the July 18 mayhem at the plant, which not only cost the GM (HR) his life and left many injured, but also led to the plant’s lockup for a while. Sources said lack of CCTV footage and address details is creating hurdles in investigation.
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Dry wells turning into death-traps
However, following the installation of submersible pumps, these wells are no longer in use. Ballah village, 25 km from here, is one such village in Karnal district where such wells have become virtual death-traps for residents. Incidents of children and animals falling into these wells are common. Most of these wells have gone dry due to sudden fall in the water table and trees have grown inside these. A large number of animals have died after falling into these wells. People have been asking the administration to fill these wells up and put them to some use but nothing has been done so far. Villagers complained that a survey of wells has been entrusted to the Agriculture Development Officer (ADO). The ADO was transferred on July 1 but the new ADO is yet to join duty. As a result, the survey of wells has been halted. A well has been lying open near a toilet in a residential colony of the powerhouse complex but the administration is to wake up from slumber. Prem Kumar, Block Panchayat and Development Officer (BPDO), said a survey of wells was being conducted by the ADO while the task of covering these wells in village had been given to the panchayat. |
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‘Olympics Rath’ reaches Kaithal
Kaithal, July 22 This rath was flagged off by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Chandigarh on July 18. As many as 600 players participated in the march. A roadshow was also organised on the occasion. After covering Kaithal district, the rath will reach Jind tomorrow. |
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Guv, CM extend Teej greetings
Chandigarh, July 22 While Jagannath Pahadia was the chief guest at the function, it was presided over by Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The function was also attended by Governor of Punjab Shivraj Patil and wife of Haryana Governor, Shanti Pahadia. The festivities of Teej were special attraction, especially for women and children as a number of stalls of bangles and balloons were put up on the occasion. Colourful swings were another attraction. The audience was regaled by the artistes from various parts of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan who presented a number of cultural items. This cultural programme highlighted the cordial relations between the bride and her mother-in-law. Delicious cuisines and seasonal sweets were also enjoyed by the visitors. The cultural programme included Haryanavi folk dance, giddha, bhangara and Rajasthani folk dance. The Governor announced a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh for the participating artistes. |
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CM congratulates Pranab Mukherjee
Chandigarh, July 22 In a statement issued here today, Hooda said: “The huge margin was expected given the most appropriate choice of Mukherjee as the UPA candidate. Mukherjee would bring grace to the post of President”.
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Dismiss Hooda govt, impose President’s rule: Chautala
Jalandhar, July 22 Alleging that law and order has deteriorated and corruption is rampant in the state, Chautala said Bhupinder Singh Hooda should have quit the CM’s post on moral grounds following unprecedented violence in the Honda unit in Manesar in 2005 but did not do so as he had no moral values. So, now the Governor should intervene to dismiss the Hooda government, he added. Chautala, who came to Jalandhar to participate in a marriage along with his media adviser Ram Singh Brar, further stated that the INLD would hold demonstrations at the district headquarters in Haryana on Monday against the deteriorated law and order situation and corruption in the state and would submit memorandums to the respective Deputy Commissioners (DCs), urging the Governor to dismiss the Hooda government and to impose President’s rule. The INLD supremo stated that a number of industrial units had already shifted from the state while several others were planning to do so due to the deteriorating law and order situation. Chautala said he had constituted the Haryana State Industrial Security Force (HSISF) on the lines of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and 3,550 personnel were recruited during INLD rule for the security of industrial units, but Hooda had not only dissolved the HSISF but also expelled the recruited personnel. Chautala said: “Not even a single strike was observed in any industrial unit in Haryana during INLD rule. That is why a number of big units, including MNCs, had chosen Haryana to invest money at that time. But Hooda’s failure to provide a peaceful atmosphere drove them to migrate”? To a query, Chautala said the INLD was ready to accept the recommendations of the Shah Commission transferring Chandigarh to Punjab only if Abohar, Fazilka and 108 Hindi-speaking villages were merged with Haryana and the Centre provided the entire money for setting up a new capital. |
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Issuance of
RCs, driving licences
Chandigarh, July 22 The step has led to an appreciable reduction in the time taken for the issue of these documents. This was stated by Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) Ramendra Jakhu
here today. He said according to a provision in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, whereby a no objection certificate (NoC) was required to issue an RC from
the original authority had been implemented correctly now. He said earlier the Registrations and Licensing Authorities (RLAs) had to wait to receive an NoC beyond the prescribed period of one month. Now the RLAs would not have to wait beyond one month for this purpose, he stated. He said other measures included the addition of staff, especially data
entry operators (DEOs) through district IT societies, where public dealing was heavy. More funds for office automation and equipment had also been allocated for the RLA offices, he added. |
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2 bodies recovered from canal
Rohtak, July 22 According to the police, the body of the cop was fished out late in the evening yesterday. His body was handed over to his kin after a postmortem. It is reported that the victim had gone for swimming in the canal, located about five km from the main town, along with two other friends. While Rajesh got drowned soon after he jumped into the canal, his friends Manish and Sahdev were rescued after they raised an alarm. The police and the fire brigade fished out the body of the Inspector later in the evening. According to information, the trio had arrived the spot in a private car before they decided to take a plunge into the water at around 4.30 pm. In another incident, the police recovered body of a person still to be identified. The body was fished out from the canal near Mayna village, about 10 km from here. The police claims that the man had been murdered before being dumped into the canal. The body has been sent to the PGIMS for postmortem. |
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Lovers commit suicide
Sirsa, July 22 Today, both Karan Singh and Sunita went to the tank of waterworks situated at a distance of about one kilometre from the village at about 5 am and jumped into it after tying their backs with a ‘dupatta’. Before jumping into the tank, the couple left their slippers and Sunita’s ‘mangalsutra’ on its bank. A guard posted on the water tank rushed to the spot after he heard the sound and raised an alarm when he noticed the couple drowning. He ran towards the village to inform people, but it was too late and the two had died by then. Villagers fished out their bodies from the tank and informed the police, who sent the bodies to the General Hospital, Sirsa, for their post-mortem examinations. |
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Sampat urges Oppn to support govt in public interest
Hisar, July 22 He said besides the government and the party in power, it was the responsibility of the opposition parties as well to ensure that politics did not come in the way of development of the state. He said the world over nuclear power plants were the first choice as thermal power plants were unable to cope with the growing demand. In the US nuclear plants were generating 10,1409 MW of power. The figures for other developed countries were: France-65,000 MW, Germany-12,068 MW, UK- 9,706 MW and Russia- 23,643 MW. In China, he said, nuclear power plants were generating 12,000 MW of power and 77 new nuclear plants were under construction. Not only that China planned to set up 150 nuclear power plants. Sampat Singh said the proposed Gorakhpur plant was perfectly safe as it was a modern plant with all safety guards in place. Besides, the world over no nuclear plant had caused loss of life because of any technical causes. All these accidents were caused by natural factors. Such factors could cause accidents in hydro or thermal plants too. He said thermal power plants needed a huge quantity of water, which was a scarce resource in Haryana. As against this, a nuclear plant required very little quantity of water. The former minister said several farmers of Gorakhpur village had already handed over 300 acres of land for the plant and had accepted the compensation package offered by the government.
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INLD promises panel on trade, industry
Sirsa, July 22 Chautala alleged that the law and order situation in Haryana was at its lowest as heinous crimes had become order of the day. He urged people to support the INLD in the next parliamentary poll. |
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Workers’ union opposes private cos
Rohtak, July 22 A union spokesperson said the reported decision to allot work of separation of the urban and rural feeders in some parts of the state, including Panipat circle, to private companies would be opposed as the authorities concerned had assured that any move in this regard would be taken only after taking the employees’ union into confidence. He said the workers’ union had staged a protest in February 2010 over the issue. The government had, at that time, assured that it would not go ahead till there was a consensus among all concerned. He said the union would launch a statewide stir if the government failed pay heed to its advice and involved private companies in such a work. The union has alleged that the policy of outsourcing and the contractual system had resulted in frequent breakdowns in the supply system and a rise in the maintenance costs due to poor quality of parts.
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‘Surya Kund’ inaugurated
Kaithal, July 22 The minister also laid the foundation stone of the second phase of renovation work of parts of this historical pond connected to Mahabharata period. Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president, All-India Kisan Khet Majdoor Congress, and Mahant Rajeshwar Puri were also present on the occasion.
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KU Class IV employees to go on leave today
Kurukshetra, July 22 The employees are up in arms against the contractor as well as the university. They are demanding that in addition to other dues, the amount deposited in the provident fund, both by the employers and the employees, be paid to them. “We have been repeatedly urging the university authorities to intervene in the matter and get our dues but all our requests have fallen on deaf ears,” said an employee. |
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Maruti arson: Key leader among 6 held Gurgaon, July 22 Yogesh, a resident of Jhajjar district, is among six persons arrested by the police. The arrests come after The Tribune published a news report highlighting that none of the workers' union leaders named in the FIR had been arrested. According to an official press statement issued here today, Naveen of Jhajjar, Pradeep of Jind, Surender Pal of Palwal and Satbir of Sirsa have also been arrested. Meanwhile, the lockout at the Maruti Suzuki plant at Manesar has not only taken its toll on the company and its ancillary units but has also led to a steep decline in the rental income of house owners in the town. Worried over the exodus of labourers on account of the lockout, villagers are keen on participating in tomorrow’s mahapanchayat scheduled at Aniyar Dhana village. Many workers have been arrested and some are absconding to evade arrest. Even those not involved in the incident have left for their native places causing a financial loss to the landowners as almost all Maruti employees have been living in rented accommodation. A visit to nearby areas reveal that every single household has an average of two to three workers living as paying guests or tenants and are paying minimum Rs 2,500 per month each. Many residents have kept these workers as tenants and are earning anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. Police sources said the loss of this steady and easy income is one of the reasons for the overwhelming support to the mahapanchayat. “The local politics which has started in the form of resident support is creating hassles rather than helping us. The company has been in trouble for almost a year now. The residents were least bothered when there was a strike for almost two months but now when because of this the regular income is being affected, they have woken up to show their support,” said a senior police official. The police has also blamed residents for not getting the tenants verified which appears to be a major roadblock in ongoing investigation.
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An impasse between the authorities and farmers opposing acquisition of their land for the upcoming nuclear power plant continues as only a handful of farmers have so far accepted cheques of compensation.
Though local villagers’ agitation against the acquisition of their fertile land stems from the farmers’ inherent affection towards their land, there are certain other aspects attached to the issue.
As per the state authorities’ plan to develop industrial sectors in the Bawal area situated along the NH-8 in Rewari district, it was decided to acquire about 3,700 acres in 21 villages of the district. Of these, 16 villages are located in Bawal block.
Chandigarh, July 22
Jalandhar, July 22
Karnal, July 22