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Business hit
Emergency hospital services partially affected
Industry suffers Rs 5 cr losses
Sleepless Jammu swelters
U’khand struggles to restore power
post-Godhra riots
riot-hit shrines
Rejig of ministries on cards
Nithyananda does not keep date with CID
Narang’s village bursts into celebrations
Vrindavan widows an exploited lot: SC panel
Govt cool to Anna indefinite fast Crusade gathers momentum EGoM on drought to discuss relief packages for states Ferozepur to get JRD Tata Award for improving child sex ratio
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CAPITAL WOES: Metro freezes in its tracks
New Delhi, July 30 “Owing to the breakdown of power supply from the northern grid, auxiliary and traction power supply of all Metro lines/depots was not available from 2:35 am to 7 am. As a result, the
Metro trains could not be taken out from depots at 6 am, as per the normal schedule,” he said. Around 7 am, when power supply was resumed from the northern grid, the trains were rolled out from respective depots for the services in a phased manner. At 9 am, regular services were made available on all the Metro lines. A team of senior officials from the Delhi Metro’s Electrical wing swung into action at 2.30 am to ensure that power supply was resumed for the trains at the earliest. Separate teams were deployed for DMRC’s Control Centres at Shastri Park and Metro Bhawan to supervise the overall situation and ensure the earliest restoration of power supply. “We did regular announcements regarding non-availability of Metro services. Though, all stations remained closed from 6 am to 7 am, adequate information was displayed outside the stations regarding non-availability of services,” said the spokesperson. “I reached the Green Park Metro station at 6.30 in the morning as I had to board Shatabdi from New Delhi Railway Station. But no services were available,” said a student.
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Harrowing time for commuters as train services paralysed
New Delhi, July 30 Railway officials and staff had to rush to their duties early in the morning convincing the commuters that situation would be normalized soon. The train services were late from one to 11 hours. In the morning, a diesel engine was fitted to run the Shatabdi, a railway official said. Kolkatta-Giridih Lal Quila Express ran late by 11 hours, Sitamarhi-Anand Vihar T Lichchavi Express was late by seven hours, Rajdhani trains coming from Bhubaneswar, Howrah, Sealdah, Mumbai, Farakka Express, Purshottam Express, Rampurhat and Ranchi got delayed by more than four hours due to the power problem, said Neeraj Sharma, spokesman of the Northern Railway. The official said the trains could not depart on their scheduled departure time due to the power failure and rescheduling of trains’ timings has become a major problem for the railways. Sources said the departure timings of Bhubaneswar Duronto, Sealdah Duronto and Kanpur Shatabdi among 14 others were rescheduled due to the late running of these trains. The Northern Railway cancelled the services of about 15 local trains and rescheduled departure timings of another 15 express trains from Delhi in the wake of sudden power outage. They include Ghaziabad-New Delhi EMU, New Delhi-Sonepat EMU, Sonepat-Sahibabad EMU, Ghaziabad-Delhi Jn EMU, Delhi Jn- Ghaziabad EMU, Delhi Jn-Ballbhgarh EMU, Ballabhgarh- Shakurbasti EMU, Shakurbasti-Palwal-EMU among others, the spokesman said. The departure timings of the Rajdhani Express trains to Howrah, Sealdah and Bhubaneswar which depart from here between 4.30 pm and 5.15 pm have also been rescheduled by two-and-half-hours behind schedule. IGI Airport unaffected
NEW DELHI: Flight operations at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport were absolutely normal and there were no reports of cancellations or delay in flights during the power crisis on Monday, said an official of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). He said that the entire power load of the airport was restored within 15-60 seconds. This was made possible by an extensive arrangement of power backup and the multiple redundancies put in place by the DIAL.
— TNS
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Business hit
Industry body CII said in a statement that grid failure was extremely unfortunate and it has impacted not just businesses but also essential services across North India. While investigations are on to find the root cause for this incident, the grid code notified by CERC should be strictly implemented and violators penalized, said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII. The increasing gap between the demand & supply of electricity has been a matter for concern. CII said urgent steps need to be taken for addressing key issues ailing the power sector, such as improving the supply of coal for thermal power plants and reforming the state distribution utilities. Today’s outage is an urgent reminder for addressing these issues on priority, said Banerjee. The grid failure affected power generation too in a big way. India’s largest power company, NTPC said it was affected by the grid failure as all stations in northern region and NCR stopped generating due to grid collapse. However, most of them have been brought back and are generating nearly full capacity. However, flights out of the Delhi International airport were not affected due to the power shocker. A DIAL spokesman said that all flight operations at IGIA were normal with no cancellations and delays. The power supply was restored to DG Systems instantaneously and was running smoothly until the normal supply is restored. Industry body, Assocham reacting to the unprecedented crisis the Northern Region is experiencing due to the failure of power grid said it has totally disturbed the normal life and has severely impacted economic activities. Assocham said while on the one hand it is pity that over 26000 mw of power stations are idle due to the non availability of coal, on the other grid failure has brought the system to a collapse. The chamber said that the entire power situation at present is headed for disaster. THE PRESCRIPTION
No escape for VVIP areas
NEW DELHI: For over two hours, the Lutyens' zone in central Delhi, which includes the Rastrapati Bhavan and the Prime Minister's House, was blacked out. “The power supply was disrupted since 2.32 am, but we managed to partially restore
it by 5 am in VVIP areas. We got power from the gas turbines of Badarpur and
Dadri,” a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) official said. — IANS
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Emergency hospital services partially affected
New Delhi, July 30 In most of the public and private hospitals in Delhi, emergency services sailed through one of the decade’s biggest power trip, thanks to the backup supply via generators. While the families of patients in the emergency wards expressed some discomfort on account of ACs remaining out of operation for the whole night, most of the hospital authorities denied that there was any significant cause for concern. So, it looks the hospitals here have a fairly strong backup of diesel generators as it was said to be in some of the major tertiary hospitals, such All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, etc. At AIIMS, which has a requirement of 18,000 KW, there are a total of 50 generators, including 10 for its centres at Ballabhgarh and Ghaziabad and the backup capacity for the main centre is somewhere between 15,000 KW and 16,000 KW. There was a power-cut for almost two hours in several departments even as the chief medical officer on duty denied any problem. “More than 90 per cent of the need was met by the generator backup at almost all of our centres, including JPN Trauma, Cardio-Neuro, RP Cancer and the Dental wing. We have a well-equipped system for the ICUs and OTs where there is an uninterrupted power supply,” said a senior official from the engineering department. A senior surgeon Dr A K Bisoi at the hospital’s cardiothoracic centre, said, “I had a patient referred from a private hospital on whom an emergency procedure had to be performed and it went on the backup supply until the light came in around 9:30 in the morning.”
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After dark night, Chaos rises
Patiala, July 30 The grid had also tripped On January 2, 2010, leading to a blackout in the northern states. However, it was not a serious breakdown. The PSPCL Director (Distribution), Arun Verma, said the power corporation wasted no time in taking the necessary measures. “Following the grid failure, all thermal plants in the state stopped functioning. To revive the plants, we had to seek the help of the BBMB”, he said. Verma said they got power from the BBMB at about 9 am and soonafter, power for essential services was restored. “Electricity was first provided for trains, then to hospitals, water supply systems and the domestic sector,” he said. Power was partially restored in Patiala at 10.20 am, at Jalandhar 10.55 am, Amritsar at 11.55 am, Bathinda 12 noon, Ludhiana 12.42 pm and Fatehgarh Sahib 2 pm. Punjab’s power generation capacity is about 3,600 MW-3700 MW. The state’s total transfer capacity (TTC) from the Northern Grid is 5,400 MW. This means that Punjab can procure power from the grid up to 5,400 MW. However, because of the severe power crisis, Punjab had jumped this limit and was reprimanded by the NRLDC. Warning unheeded
The grid frequency has been fluctuating between 49.1 hz to 50.1 hz for almost two months now. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) had issued issued instructions to the northern states, particularly Punjab and Haryana, to strictly comply with the provisions of the grid code and cut down overdrawal at low frequency as this could endanger grid security. Obviously, these instructions went unheeded. Revival efforts
The PSPCL Director (Generation), GS Chhabra, said that four units, each with a capacity of 210 MW, of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar, were made functional before noon. Also, one unit of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal plant of 110 MW capacity would start generating power soon, he added. “Two units of 210 MW each and another of 250 MW of the plant at Lehra Mohabbat have become operational too”, he said. He said one unit of the Bathinda Plant that was shut for renovation was tested today. Health services hit
Following the tripping of the Northern Grid, health services were hit in Government Rajindra Hospital and Mata Kaushalya Hospital. There was no electricity in the wards. Drinking water supply was hit too. At Rajindra Hospital, only the ICU, ICCU and the emergency ward had power. A
couple of surgeries had to be postponed. Several Trains delayed
Give 1,000 MW to Punjab, says Badal Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal has demanded that at least 1,000 MWs of power be allotted to the state from the central quota to help farmers cope with the drought-like situation in the state. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal has issued strict instructions to PowerCom to improve supply to the domestic sector. He has ordered that more power be purchased from the spot market to meet the increase in demand.
— TNS
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Harried Haryana left high and dry
Chandigarh, July 30 Initially, the residents thought it was a normal power outage but after hours of remaining ‘powerless’ and without water, they realized something serious was wrong. The Panipat power station was one of the first power units to be restored around 9 am bringing some relief to the neighboring areas. The Haryana Power Utilities restored power supply in 50 per cent areas of the state. About 80 per cent of the areas were to be restored power by Monday midnight. However, the supply of power has been restored at all sub-stations in the state. Reports that poured in from across the state said that normal life was badly affected. Hospitals did not have power thus causing much inconvenience to patients. Surgeries and medical examinations were delayed for hours. Railway traffic was disrupted. Even the Gurgaon metro came to a halt forcing nearly 20 lakh commuters to take alternate modes of transport. Chaos and confusion prevailed on roads with no functional traffic lights in place. “The northern grid failed at 2.35 am and the frequency of disturbance was 49.75 Hz and at that time. Efforts were made by Haryana Power Utilities to restore the supply. Against a usual consumption of 1,250 lakh units, only 500 lakh units were supplied today,” Haryana Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav said. Sources said the power grid collapse was caused by an excessive withdrawal. Uttar Pardesh drew over 6300 MW against 5500 MW schedule. Haryana was also overdrawing 600 MW at that time, they added. The system frequency rose to 50.48 Hz when the grid collapsed after some fault at Agra. SIRSA: Repeated inquiries by angry residents of Sirsa and surrounding areas from the Dakshin Haryana Bijlee Vitran Nigam did not yield any reply on when the electricity supply would be resumed. The officials said it might take several hours to restore the system. FATEHABAD: Power supply in both Sirsa and Fatehabad was resumed at 9.30 in the morning only to fail again at three in the afternoon. “The problem in the grid has been corrected but it will take some time for all generation units to resume their functioning completely,” said a spokesperson of the DHBVN. KARNAL: Power supply was restored here by noon. The power failure affected banking and computer services. Several trains including Shatabdi and Express trains were running one to three hour behind their schedule. KURUKSHETRA: The railway stations were overcrowded with passengers waiting for hours for the trains. The Kalka Mail remained stranded here for more than four hours while Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi was running about two hours behind its schedule. A number of passenger trains bound for Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jammu, Ferozepur and Kalka were stranded at wayside stations and trains were run with diesel engines at some places. PANIPAT: Residents had a hard time sending their kids to schools and also going to their offices. Amit, father of three-year-old Tvishi said his daughter’s school would remain closed tomorrow in case there is no light. GURGAON: A disruption in metro services left commuters stranded at various places. Even when the power was restored, majority of the trains were taken off routes. The commuters had to board overcrowded buses or autos. REWARI: Several local trains to adjoining areas of Gurgaon such as Rewari and Patuadi were cancelled. Water supply was badly hit. JHAJJAR: It was only around 11 am that first attempt was made to restore the power supply here. Employees preferred to take leave. Cattle owners had also to face a tough time due to power cuts in wee hours as they use to prepare the feed for their livestock at that time to get them ready for milking. AMBALA: People were seen making a beeline outside power houses and complaint centers. Power officials could not provide them satisfactory information. The residents said inverters also ran out of capacity soon and they blamed the state government for poor power situation. ROHTAK: Patients were among those who were the worst affected. Hundreds of patients were seen at the OPD centre in long queues at the local Civil Hospital awaiting their turn braving heat and humidity. The power outage in the 200-bedded hospital not only posed a serious risk to the health of the patients who were undergoing surgery but also delayed operations. The hospital which receives around 1,000 patients in its OPD daily has no proper power back up. YAMUNANAGAR: Long distance trains running on electrical engines were stranded midway. The power failure affected more than 300 trains. Passenger were stranded at Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, and Sonepat. HISAR: It was impossible to sleep indoors amid humidity at night. In Urban Estate-II, mothers were seen out on streets carrying infants to make them sleep. There was no water supply anywhere in the district in the morning. Schools and colleges recorded thin attendance. SONEPAT: The worst hit were 50,000 rail commuters Besides cancellation of three morning passenger trains, the first morning passenger from Panipat reached at Sonepat three hours late at around after 9 am.
Feeling the Heat
(With inputs from Sushil Manav in Sirsa, Bhanu Lohumi in Karnal, Shekhar Singh in Kurukshetra, Balwan Malik in Sonepat,Sumedha Sharma in Gurgaon, Raman Mohan in Hisar, Nawal Rastogi in Rewari, Ravinder Saini in Jhajjar, manish Sirhindi in Ambala and Brajinder Ahalawat in
Rohtak)
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Himachal power projects take a hit
Shimla, July 30 The grid collapsed around 2.30 am and it took almost 12 hours to restore normalcy, though the process was started around 8 am. All hydropower projects in the state were shut. While smaller projects such as the 126 MW Larji were operating at full capacity by the evening, big projects were still generating less than their installed capacity. The Nathpa Jhakri project was generating 1,326 MW by the evening against the normal 1,620 MW and the Karcham Wangtu 900 MW against the normal 1,100 MW. The restoration of power was started from Dehar in Mandi and the entire state was covered by 1.15 pm. Local distribution was fully restored in the entire state only by 4 pm. Industries engaged in “continuous process manufacturing” were the worst hit. People faced inconvenience as the mobile network collapsed and ATMs also became inoperative. Meanwhile, the demand for power continues to be on the higher side. The state power board has been drawing 180 MW of government power, available to it in the shape of royalty from hydropower projects, to meet the demand. SOLAN: Industries in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt and the Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib areas had to depend on diesel-run generator sets after outage.
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Industry suffers Rs 5 cr losses
Ludhiana, July 30 Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations, said: "First, the collapse of the Lalton Kalan substation, then the Ferozepur substation and now the Northern Grid. Already, the Punjab State Power Corporation has imposed three offs a week on industrial units. Now unscheduled power cuts has maimed the industry. We are left with no option but to shift out," he said. Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of the United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association, said: "Already, China is taking away much of our business and whatever business we are left with is being taken away by the power
corporation. We are unable to meet our orders on time, thereby incurring heavy losses.”
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Sleepless Jammu swelters
The power failure also affected water pumping stations across the Jammu region and parts of the Kashmir valley, leading to severe water shortage. The industrial units also remained closed for the day due to the non-availability of electricity. Besides, several trains moving to and fro from Jammu railway station ran late by six to eight hours. Sources said the entire state plunged into darkness after a major technical snag in the Northern Power Grid at around 2.30 am. The power supply fell to just 250 MW (from Salal and Uri hydroelectric projects) against the existing supply of 1,500 MW that badly affected the essential services like healthcare, water supply etc. The patients and their attendants had a harrowing time as major hospitals witnessed a complete blackout. Ironically, the Power Development Department authorities claimed that they restored the power supply to major towns of the state at around 1.30 pm but situation was altogether different on ground. The winter capital city and other major towns continued to remain without power till evening. “All the 22 districts were affected following the power breakdown in the Northern Power Grid. We were getting power only from Salal (I&II) and Uri generation plants,” Ajay Gupta, Chief Engineer, PDD, (Commercial), Jammu, said. He, however, said they restored the electricity supply to major towns of the state at around 1.30 pm. BR Dogra, Chief Engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, Jammu, said that at least seven major water pumping stations in the town went non-operational for over six hours following the power failure, thus adversely impacting the water supply to many localities in the division. The Impact
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U’khand struggles to restore power
Dehradun July 30 Superintendent Engineer, Load Dispatch Center, Rishikesh Rajiv Gupta assured that the domestic consumers in rural and urban areas would be able to access light and fan at least after 7 pm. But the industries which availed power from 12 to 4 in the day will not be able to have supply from 5 in the evening till 12 at night. He said their first priority was to provide electricity to the places of urgency such as railway, hospitals etc, then tourist places and bigger towns. Ajit Singh, Chief Engineerd, Distribution, garhwal UPCL said it would take time to finally see the power situation get back to normal in the state.
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4 students killed in bus-train collision
Kot Mehtab (Baba Bakala), July 30 They all were from nearby Bullenangal village. The bus (PB-09-L-9929) belonged to Sant Baba Majha Singh Karamjot Senior Secondary School located at Baba Bakala. Nineteen other children also sustained injuries in the incident. They were got admitted to Sawan Singh Charitable Hospital, Dera Beas. The condition of four children was stated to be critical. Three of them were later referred to the Civil Hospital, Amritsar, while one of them was taken to a private hospital at Subhanpur. Those injured were Baljit Singh, Manjot Kaur, Tejbir Singh, Harpreet Singh, Karan Kumar, Amanpreet Singh, Gursimran Kaur, Gursewak Singh, Harsimran Kaur, Sandeep Singh, Jobanpreet Singh, Kanwalraj, Gursewak Singh, Sukhmanpreet Kaur, Navdeep Kaur, Simranjit Kaur, Preetkanwal Kaur, Preet Kanwal Singh and Amandeep, all residents of nearby villages. The incident took place when school bus driver Milkha Singh tried to cross the unmanned railway crossing while overtaking a “Gharooka” (an indigenous vehicle). The impact was so powerful that three students were killed on the spot. People from nearby Kot Mehtab and Bhalojali villages pulled out children from the damaged bus and rushed them to Dera Beas hospital. The bus driver was also injured in the incident. People said he was hearing impaired and usually indulged in rash driving. They alleged they had on several occasions asked the Principal of the school to change the driver, but to no avail. Manjit Singh, driver of Gharooka and an eyewitness, said he had signalled to the bus driver to stop as the local train was coming, but he ignored the signal. The enraged people gathered at the spot also beat up driver of the local train Surinder Kumar. Officiating Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti confirmed the deaths of four girls. He said whosoever was found guilty would be dealt with sternly. Senior officials from the Railways, including Senior Divisional Manager Karan Singh and Divisional Manager Swarn Singh also reached the spot. Talking to media they said an inquiry committee had been constituted and stern action would be taken against the guilty.
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post-Godhra riots
Mehsana (Gujarat), July 30 Over a decade after the incident, designated special judge SC Srivastava acquitted 61 of the 83 accused, including former BJP MLA Prahlad Gosa and ex-municipal president Dayabhai Patel, also of the same party. The court dropped the more serious charges of murder (Section 302) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of IPC against all 21 handed down life imprisonment and held them guilty of attempt to murder (Section 307) and arson. Former police inspector of Visnagar town MK Patel, who was held guilty of dereliction of duty, was sentenced to one year imprisonment. The court also awarded two years imprisonment to six of the accused for rioting and the sentence will run concurrently with the life term. Those convicted have also been fined between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000, while the former police inspector has been fined Rs 150. A frenzied mob had killed 11 members of a single family, including four children and five women, on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train carnage, in
Deepda Darwaza area of Visnagar town in Mehsana. — PTI the carnage A frenzied mob had killed 11 members of a single family, including four children and five women, on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train carnage, in Deepda Darwaza area of Visnagar town in Mehsana
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riot-hit shrines
New Delhi, July 30 The HC had passed the order ignoring the fact that this issue was covered under the terms of reference of the Nanavati Shah Commission that was inquiring into the riots, Additional Advocate General Tushar Mehta contended before a Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra. The commission’s report was expected by December, he said. The HC had observed that the state government had not taken adequate action to protect the shrines. A number of petitions had been filed in the HC and the inquiry commission seeking compensation for the damaged shrines following this order, the AAG said. Contending that there was no legal provision for payment of compensation to damaged shrines, Mehta said even the SC had only asked the Odisha government to formulate a policy for repair of such places affected during the 2008 Kandhamal riots. “If you are relying on this judgment, then you also formulate a scheme,” the Bench asked the Gujarat counsel. Mehta said he would have to take instructions from the state government, upon which the SC slated the next hearing for August 14. The Bench, however, did not grant any stay. The HC had passed the order on a petition filed by an NGO, Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat (IRCG), pleading for compensation to the
damaged shrines. The state government had come to the SC challenging the order.
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PC assures security, houses to violence-hit in Assam
Guwahati, July 30 Talking to media in Kokrajhar, Chidambaram said, “I have assured them (violence-hit people) that the Government of India (GOI) and the Assam Government of Assam (GOA) will help them rebuild their houses. We are fully geared up to accomplish the task of rehabilitation.” “I have come here to assess the situation in the ground, talks to the officers in the field, to visit some affected areas and to meet people in the relief camps. The immediate task before us is to ensure peace and harmony so that a confidence is instilled in their mind. They (relief camp inmates) are gently persuaded to go back to their villages. All of them are anxious to go back to their villages but they are naturally asking whether they will be safe or not. We will help them rebuild their houses and will provide security in the village,” Chidambaram said. “Police and the administration have drawn up a plan for rehabilitation. It is an eminently doable plan. We will also provide mobile and fixed security pickets in the village. We won’t set a deadline for it, but will be done as early as possible,” said the Home Minister who visited two relied camps at Titaguri High School and Bhutgaon in Kokrajhar and two other camps at Basugaon College and Basugaon Higher Secondary School in Chirang district. Chidambaram pointed out that there was no fresh incident of violence during the last 72 hours and but said that 57 precious lives had been lost. He said the present concern of the government was to look after people in relief camps, provide them food, drinking water and medicines and ge persuade them to go back as early as possible. When drawn to the allegation of availability of illegal arms in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) area, Chidambaram said, “We are aware of it. It
is an important thing. It is in our mind and we will do something.” On allegation of involvement of illegal migrants from Bangladesh in the riot, Chidambaram said that all other issues could be addressed in due course of time. Earlier, interacting with inmates of the relief camp at Titaguri High School in
Kokrajhar, Chidambaram told the camp inmates that the Central Government would not leave them at their own and would provide immediate security so that they can go back home. Chidambaram arrived in Assam for a two-day visit to violence-affected areas in Assam. |
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Rejig of ministries on cards New Delhi, July 30 There is an urgency to make these changes. The monsoon session of Parliament will commence on August 8 and the government has to find a replacement for Pranab Mukherjee as the Lok Sabha leader before that date. Shinde is learnt to have been picked for this job partially because of his seniority and also because of his amiable nature that will enable him to reach out to leaders across the political spectrum.
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Nithyananda does not keep date with CID
Bangalore, July 30 This is because Nithyananda, who was caught on camera frolicking in the bed with a Tamil film actress, had claimed during interrogation that he was “not a man”. A panel of medical experts was supposed to test him for a conclusive report to determine whether he was impotent. If Nithyananda is found to be physically capable of having sex with a woman, he may face further trouble. On the other hand, if he is found to be really impotent - which seems a far cry - it will help him in the case. Nithyananda was asked to be present at the CID headquarters, from where he was to be taken to Victoria Hospital. The CID had earlier also issued notices to him to appear for medical and voice tests, but he did not oblige. The cops then approached the court following which the Ramanagaram CJM Court directed the godman to undergo medical and voice analysis tests and cooperate with the investigation. |
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Narang’s village bursts into celebrations
Panipat, July 30 The victory was significant after ace shooter Abhinav Bindra had crashed out earlier in
the day. Narang’s village Simla Gujran in the Samalkha area of Panipat celebrated it
with fireworks and distributing “ladoos”. Narang’s family had left the village long ago as his father was in Central government service. Narang visited the village with his father not very often. The elders have faint memories of him as a child. But today, all villagers are proud of him. Village sarpanch Jai Kumar Sharma said he faintly remembered Narang and his uncle Om Prakash had come to the village yesterday and held a “bhandara” and offered prayers for his success. Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda has announced award of Rs 1 crore for Narang and congratulated him for bringing laurels to the state and the country. Narang had kept India in the hunt by finishing third with 598 points after Abhinav Bindra had crashed out of the 10m air rifle event. Narang clinched the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle. |
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Vrindavan widows an exploited lot: SC panel
New Delhi, July 30 Some of the NGOs were collecting funds ostensibly for the welfare of destitute women by showing the same set of women as residents of different homes, the panel said in an eight-page report placed before a Bench comprising Justices DK Jain and Madan Lokur today. The welfare measures meant for the widows abandoned by their families were not reaching them, the panel headed by the chairman of the Mathura District Legal Services Authority said. The other members of the panel included representatives from the National Commission for Women, the Uttar Pradesh Government, the District Collector, the medical officer and the Mathura SSP. Whenever these widows get a considerable amount of money from someone, it is usually snatched away by NGO representatives, the report said. “Only those who go to such places unannounced and without any official clout can see and realise the pathetic condition in which destitute women, known as Vrindavan widows, live there and the way they are exploited,” the panel said. After going through the report, the apex court said it was for the state government to improve the situation. Nevertheless, the Bench would hear the matter on August 3 for issuing directives. The SC had set up the panel on May 9 on a petition pleading for provision of shelter and other necessary amenities for widows. |
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Govt cool to Anna indefinite fast New Delhi, July 30 Instead of rushing to placate the anti-corruption crusader as it did last year, the ruling combine is keeping a safe distance from Team Anna in the belief that its protest has lost steam and that the government cannot do much to meet its demands. A panic-stricken government had rushed to accommodate Team Anna last year first when it agreed to set up a joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill and followed it up by rushing with the passage of the Bill in the LS. While rejecting the demand for an enquiry against 15 Cabinet ministers, Minister Salman Khursheed and V Narayansamy, minister of state in the PMO, have repeatedly asserted that the government had demonstrated its intention to combat corruption by passing the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha. However,they said, the government was helpless in ensuring the Bill’s passage in the Upper House because the UPA government does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill is currently being scrutinised by a select committee, which comprises members from all political parties, the ministers have pointed out, adding that the government would table it in the Rajya Sabha as soon as it receives the select committee’s report. Khursheed said Anna Hazare’s demands had been met long ago and that there was an understanding that the Gandhian would not join the fast begun by his team members. He even took a dig at Team Anna saying they were raising issues which have been rejected by the Supreme Court and if they did not have any faith in it, they could approach the United Nations. “The government’s options are limited ..what can it do beyond what it has already done,” remarked a senior UPA minister.
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Crusade gathers momentum New Delhi, July 30 Despite being a Monday, thousands of his supporters could be seen thronging the Jantar Mantar where Anna had joined three of his aides on the dais for an indefinite fast. They are pressing for an SIT enquiry into the graft charges against 162 tainted MPs and 15 Cabinet ministers of the ruling disposition. Even as the crowd was slightly less than Sunday, it will definitely sent a word of caution to the indifferent government against ignoring the rising pitch of people’s voice for a strong Lokpal Bill. More so, as now angered supporters feel it is time to take to the streets to wake up the government from deep slumber.
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EGoM on drought to discuss relief packages for states New Delhi, July 30 Sources said apart from farmer-relief measures, possibility of stockholding limits and ban on futures trade in agri-items, the high-level group would also discuss demands of subsidy on diesel, extra power and relief packages sought by states like Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In view of increased use of diesel for irrigation, Punjab and Haryana are demanding interim monetary packages plus 1000 MW additional allocation of power. Officials say while Punjab and Haryana may land monetary help, they can perhaps forget about getting any more extra power from the Central pool.
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Ferozepur to get JRD Tata Award for improving child sex ratio New Delhi, July 30 While Mizoram has been selected from the 18 high-focus states under the National Rural Health Mission, Goa is a non high-focus state. The districts being awarded are Varanasi (UP), Jaipur (Odisha), Thoubal (Manipur), Ahmadnagar (Maharashtra), Ferozepur (Punjab) and North Goa (Goa). Ferozepur has been chosen for bucking the national trend of dipping child sex ratio. Mizoram will be presented with a trophy and a cheque of Rs 15 lakh, while Goa will receive a trophy and a cheque of Rs 10 lakh. Each award-winning district will be presented with a trophy and a cheque of Rs 2 lakh. — TNS
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Jammu railway station choked
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New Delhi, July 30
Jammu, July 30
