Karnal, July 19
Two brothers were killed after they accidentally inhaled a toxic gas which leaked from a tubewell's motor in Dabkoli Kalan village in Indri sub-division of Karnal today. In a similar incident, three labourers died in Geer village.

Parvat Singh (24) and Ravinder Kumar (22), sons of farmer Rishipal, had gone to their farm to irrigate their crops in the morning but when they tried to start the tubewell, it did not work.

Parvat went into the well to determine the snag but when he did not return, his brother Ravinder, too, followed suit meeting the same fate.

Some villagers, who were working in a nearby field, started looking for them when the duo were not sighted for a long time. When they realised what had happened, they poured limestone powder and other chemicals into the ditch to ensure that the effect of the toxic gas was neutralised, following which the brothers were taken out. They were rushed to a hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Meanwhile, three labourers died after inhaling a toxic gas in a well in Gheer village. The incident happened after a slipper of one of the labourers, Rajesh, fell in the well. He went into the well to retrieve it but when he did not return, two other labourers, Abrar of Badaynu in Uttar Pradesh and Gudden of West Bengal, climbed down the well but fell unconscious after inhaling the gas. The bodies were later fished out with the help of a fire brigade and sent for a post-mortem examination.

Gurgaon, July 19
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) plans to set up 35 new 33- KV substations and augment the capacity of 19 existing substations at a cost of Rs 95 crore during the current financial year, said

Devender Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of the DHBVN and the UHBVN, here.

Most of the substations were being set up in rural areas, including 28 in villages and seven in towns, to boost agriculture and to get ready to provide supply in villages on the urban pattern by erecting the pillar-box system of power distribution.

The CMD said it had been targeted to create this distribution system in more than 1,000 villages by December. The pillar-box system has evoked an enthusiastic response, he said, adding that 322 panchayats had given consent for the installation of this system of power distribution in their villages.

Devender Singh directed the officials concerned to ensure that online FIRs were lodged on detection of theft of electricity on the spot. 

Gurgaon, July 19
Family members of Geetanjali Garg, who was found dead in a high-security area in Gurgaon on Wednesday, met Police Commissioner Alok Mittal here today. They alleged that it was a well-planned murder carried out by the family of her husband Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Ravneet Garg.

Though the Police Commissioner was unavailable for comments, sources said the family members had demanded registration of a case against Ravneet's family.

“The bitterness expressed by Geetanjali's family members yesterday during the cremation in Panchkula continued today when they met the Commissioner. They said it was her in-laws who had hatched the plan to kill her. They demanded a CBI enquiry. They were told that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was probing the case and that no such allegations could be taken into account till a written complaint was filed. The family has sought two days to take a decision in the matter,” said a senior official.

Meanwhile, the SIT probe began today. A ballistic expert was called from Madhuban who visited the crime scene and collected samples. Investigating officials questioned people living in the vicinity. 

Chandigarh, July 19
For 25 years, ex-employees of the Haryana State Electricity Board lived on the hope of re-employment. When their petition for reinstatement was finally taken up for hearing this month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court indicated that it was too late to do anything about it.

Justice K. Kannan dismissed their petition after observing that the matter should not have lingered on for two decades. “Unfortunate” is the expression Justice Kannan used while turning down their plea.

“At the time when the order is passed, I cannot be oblivious to the existing reality and force upon an employer to bring back all employees who had been originally employed for more than three decades earlier but retrenched 25 years earlier.”

“The grant of relief in the manner sought for also becomes inefficacious in the present set of circumstances. It is, therefore, not possible to accommodate the prayer of the petitioner for reinstatement and I, therefore, decline it”.

In their petition filed in 1990, Satish Kumar and other daily-wage workers contended they were not considered eligible for re-employment after they were “served notices for interview and re-entry”. Claiming that their non-employment was arbitrary and violative of Article 14, the petitioners added the respondents had no authority to conduct a fresh interview and make an assessment of their suitability. They added the Board and other respondents again recruited daily-wage workers without giving priority to employees terminated earlier.

Justice Kannan observed the Labour Court was the appropriate forum for raising the issue of suitability.… “Even the reference to yet another person said to be similarly situated, who had obtained the benefit of reappointment, cannot be a guidance for this court to now issue a direction, more so on account of the fact that the retrenchment took place in 1984 and it will be difficult to direct the reappointment of daily-rated workers at this length of time”.

Yamunanagar, July 19
The poor condition of a 10-km stretch of the NH-73, which was rendered unfit for the traffic movement after the recent floods in the district, led to a 14-hour jam as several heavy vehicles overturned while manoeuvring through the road here today.

Many vehicles remained stranded on the national highway, which connects Chandigarh with Haridwar, since 2 am posing a lot of inconvenience for the commuters. Even as some smaller vehicles managed to turn around and take alternative routes to reach their destinations, heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks could be seen lined up along the road for up to 20 km.

The stretch on the national highway from Kami Majra up to the bridge on the Yamuna river had been washed away and now has up to three-feet-deep ditches, due to which the trucks overturned.

Despite the administration claiming that funds had been released by the National Highway Authority of India for the repair of the road, no work has been initiated on the stretch till date. 

Rewari, July 19
The police yesterday arrested Jitender (22), a constable in the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and a resident of Dabri village, who allegedly raped a 21-year-old girl of Chichhroli village of Mahendergarh district, in a hotel here recently.

He was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court yesterday. The girl, with whom Jitender had developed an intimacy and also promised to marry her, was recently called in a city hotel to negotiate modalities regarding their marriage and was raped there.

Hisar, July 19
The Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJUST), Hisar, has awarded 99 out of 70 marks in a theory paper to a student of MSc, mass communication.

The student, who got 15 out of 30 marks in the practicals of the same paper, thus scored well over the maximum marks in the paper, 114 out of 100.

Ajay Chauhan has appeared for the third semester of the MSc course in December 2012. When the university declared the results, he was taken aback when he checked his marksheet on the university website and found that he had been awarded 99 out of 70 marks in the print media productions paper.

However, he is not the only one to suffer due to the negligence of the university. Another student, Satish Kumar, who had dropped out of the course midway after he got a government job and did not appear in the examinations, was awarded one mark in the practical paper, while rest of his papers exhibited zero marks.

Moreover, around 20 students have been awarded single digit marks, where they claimed to have attempted the paper excellently. A few students alleged that they had been awarded poor marks intentionally in management and marketing principles paper by teachers who were irked with them on certain issues during the session.

The students alleged that they had been at the receiving end of the inefficient system and biased attitude of the university authorities and would have to resort to agitation to get justice.

ML Ranga, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said these were serious anomalies and the university would try to rectify it.

“So far, I have not got any such complaint. I will also look into the allegations of unfair treatment in assessment and will get the papers reassessed by independent authorities. I will direct the officials concerned to look into the matter and act accordingly,” he said.

Chandigarh, July 19
The Haryana Education Department has issued fresh directions for an effective implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in the state.

Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said before lifting foodgrains from depots of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), their quality and weight should be properly checked and foodgrains kept in open should not be taken. At the time of lifting the grains, the district elementary education officer, deputy district education officer or block education officer should be present and the officer concerned would be responsible if any complaint was received regarding the quality of grains, she said.

Bhukkal said the district elementary education officers would ensure that a member of self-help groups would remain present at the time of receiving foodgrains from Hafed.

She said mid-day meal should be prepared in hygienic conditions and stored in clean utensils. It should then be served to students in a neat and clean manner and only sealed and good quality cooking oil should be used. The mid-day meal should only be prepared in kitchens and not in open places, she added.

She also directed the district elementary education officers, block education officers and block elementary education officers to carry out the inspection of mid-day meals in their areas from time to time.

Sonepat, July 19
Five persons, including two women, were killed and three others were injured after two cars collided on National Highway-1 (NH-1) near Devi Lal Park between Murthal and Bahalgarh this evening.

The injured were rushed to the PGIMS, Rohtak, after preliminary treatment here in Civil Hospital. The deceased have been identified as Hari Mohan, his wife Sangeeta, driver Vikram of Gurgaon and Nitish and Laxmi of Mauz Nagar in Delhi. The impact was such that both the cars caught fire after the incident. A fire tender had to be pressed into service douse the flames.

The accident took place after a tyre of a speeding Innova car, going to Chandigarh from Delhi, burst. The driver lost control over the car and after crossing over the divider, it dashed into a Xylo car coming towards Delhi in the opposite lane of the highway.

While doctors declared Nitish, Hari Mohan, Sangeeta and Vikram as brought dead, Laxmi expired when she was being taken to the PGIMS, Rohtak, along with other injured. — OC

Sonepat, July 19
A number of illegal constructions were demolished in Kundli in Sonepat district yesterday. These had come up in violation of the Punjab Scheduled Road Controlled Areas Act 1963 and the Haryana Development and Regulation of Areas Act 1975.

As many as 135 DPCs, five under-construction houses, four boundary walls and nine brick roads, measuring 1,600 feet over a 15-acre unauthorised colony, were demolished.

District Town Planner Dilbag Singh, who led the demolition squad with the police force and JCB machines, said the drive was launched after the violators had failed to comply with the directions issued to them through notices for removing illegal constructions.

He said the department had received information that some of the property dealers had come up with unauthorised structures on the land reserved for industrial zone. "When there was no response to the notices by the violators, we were left with no other option but to demolish the constructions," he said.

Sonepat, July 19
A Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Sonepat Police arrested three armed gangsters from a bridge, near Kasandi village, yesterday. The team also seized two country-made revolvers, three cartridges and a knife from their possession.

Talking to mediapersons at Gohana today, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Gohana, Yash Pal Khatana, said the gangsters, identified as Jamal of Alwar, Rajasthan, Deepak of Asan Khurd, Panipat, and Inderveer of Bhansi Majra in Kurukshetra, were planning to loot passersby.

The trio were nabbed after a team led by inspector Rajiv Kumar received a tip-off about the armed gangsters and raided the spot, the DSP said.

During interrogation, they confessed to have looted a truck about 20 days ago near Chidana village on the Panipat-Rohtak National Highway. They were taken in police custody and further investigations were on, the police said.

Jhajjar, July 19
The additional district judge here awarded life imprisonment to four accused in a murder case. The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each upon the culprits.

Rohan of Vivekanand Colony in Bahadurgarh town here was murdered by his friend, Sandeep, and three others-- Pradeep of Jhadauda village, Manoj of Chhochhi, Arun of Bahadurgarh-- in Bahadurgarh town on December 19, 2009. The murder was the result of an oral duel between Rohan and Sandeep over an issue.

In another case of gang rape, the court has sentenced two accused to 10-year jail and a fine of Rs 5,000 each. Anil of Bharana village and Naveen of Mubarakpur village were convicted for abduction and gang rape of a girl of Jahadpur village on September 11, 2011.

The victim had accused the duo of kidnapping her from the village and gang-raping her at an isolated place. 

Faridabad, July 19
A man, who was booked for not returning his employer's car, tried to commit suicide by jumping from the second floor of a judicial complex here today.

The accused is a driver and his employer had lodged a complaint with the police for breach of trust when he did not return with the employer’s car. An FIR was registered against him under Section 406 of the IPC. He was arrested yesterday.

He was produced before a judicial magistrate, whose chamber is on the second storey of the court building. While he was in the corridor along with a police official, he jumped from there.

His hands and legs were fractured and he also sustained head injuries. He has been admitted to the local civil hospital where his condition is said to be stable.