Ambala, June 17
The Annapurna scheme, as per which patients at the Civil Hospital here are provided food three times a day free of cost, could be discontinued due to financial constraints.

The Red Cross Society that runs the scheme entails a cost of Rs 2 lakh every month on the scheme. Nearly 200 patients from rural areas avail the facility daily.

When then Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Saro had launched the scheme about three years ago, several social organisations had volunteered to contribute in cash and kind. They, however, backed out later. Dealers of the local grain market, who used to provide wheat and rice, followed suit.

On Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s visit to the hospital on Monday, Red Cross Society officials apprised him of the difficulties in continuing the scheme. He assured to look into the matter.

Hisar, June 17
Three brothers died after inhaling poisonous gas at a pickle-making unit in a congested place near the Teliyan Bridge locality in the town today afternoon.

According to information, the eldest brother Govind (42) first descended into the 20-foot tank that was used to make pickle. When he did not return for a few minutes, his brothers Mahender (47) and Dharmender (38), who owned the unit, went into the tank to check on him.

When none of the brothers emerged from the tank, worried workers raised the alarm and a fire brigade was called to rescue them.

The deceased belonged to Kheri Barkhi village and had reportedly shifted to Hisar some years ago.

An official of the district administration, who visited the unit, said the owners had not got the construction of the tank approved from the Municipal Corporation. They also did not have a licence to manufacture pickle.

“It was an illegal unit being run from a residential premises on a narrow street. The tank constructed to prepare pickle had no ventilation. It is suspected the three died of suffocation in the tank, which was slippery inside due to oil used in the pickle,” the official said.

However, Civil Surgeon Dr Shriram Punia said the exact cause of death would be known only after the post-mortem examination. Prima facie, it is suspected they died after inhaling carbon monoxide gas, he said.

The police have started investigations and sent the bodies to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Tragedy strikes Govind (42), the eldest brother, first descended into the 20-foot tank that was used to make pickle When he did not return for some time, his brothers Mahender (47) and Dharmender (38) went into the tank to check on him As none of the brothers emerged from the tank, worried workers raised the alarm and the fire brigade was called to rescue them An official of the district administration said neither was the tank’s construction approved nor did they have a licence to manufacture pickle

Chandigarh, June 17
The Punjab and Haryana Court has made it clear that there are no shortcuts to divorce even by mutual consent. Justice Mahavir S. Chauhan has also reiterated that the condition of six-month wait before the parting of ways cannot be waived.

Digging deep into Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which provides for divorce by mutual consent, Justice Chauhan also made it clear that the wait could not be termed as “hardship”. The assertion came as Justice Chauhan upheld an order passed by the Panchkula Additional District Judge. He had on May 23 dismissed an application filed by an estranged couple for condoning the six-month period.

The couple had claimed that their marriage did not work owing to temperamental differences. It was added in the application that the two are “quite young” and have been living separately for the past more than two years.

Taking up the matter, Justice Chauhan observed that the issue before the court was whether the statutory waiting period of six months referred to in subsection (2) of Section 13-B of the Act be waived or condoned.

“The court has not been vested with any specific or even general power to condone or waive the period stipulated either under Section 13-B (1) or under Section 13-B (2) of the Act.

“The legislature in its wisdom has allowed the parties a limited right to seek divorce by mutual consent provided the parties present the petition in the court on the ground that they have been living separately for one year or more, they have not been able to live together and that they have mutually agreed that the marriage should be dissolved.

“Once such a petition is filed, the court has to satisfy itself of these requirements and thereafter, the parties are expected to take out a second motion, which again has to be a joint motion but not earlier than six months and not later than 18 months of the first motion….

“Apparently, the decree for divorce by mutual consent is dependent on fulfilment of the requirements and due satisfaction of the court….. Just because the parties would have to wait for six months from the date of presentation of the first motion, cannot be termed as hardship much less an undue hardship….”

Chandigarh, June 17
With a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.3, the state is now set to achieve the target of 2.1 and has, therefore, introduced an incentive-based scheme to achieve the goal.

TFR of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime.

While stating this today, Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said in the financial year 2014-15, the emphasis is being laid on promoting insertions of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) among the eligible couples, who have one or two children.

For this purpose, there is a plan to train the ANMs properly and regular camps or outreach sessions will be organised.

The Health Department has introduced performance-linked payment scheme to improve the performance of the Post Partum Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (PPIUCD) insertion, Singh said.

An incentive of Rs 150 will be given to the service provider, medical officers and nurses, and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) per insertion for escorting the client to the health facility for facilitating the insertion.

He said the usage of IUCD had improved over the years. The IUCDs, including PPIUCD, had increased from 27,717 in May 2013 to 40,879 in May 2014 and oral pills-user rate had also shot up from 95,213 in May 2013 to 1,16,895 during May 2014. The number of acceptors of sterilisation is also increasing as in the financial year 2013-14, the total number of sterilisations was 73,616, which has shot up to 13,598 in May 2014.

The minister added that these being the positive indicators, it had been planned to motivate the health functionaries regarding the reduction in TFR by encouraging the masses to adopt sterilisation and IUCD insertion after two children.

There has been progressive increase in the usage of sterilisation as contraceptive measures by this group over the years. About 50 per cent sterilisation is being done by couples having three or more children.

The government was successfully implementing the National Family Welfare Programme as an integral part of total healthcare delivery system. With persistent efforts in the field of population control, birth rate in the state, which was 42.1 per thousand in 1971, has been brought down to 21.8 per thousand in 2011, he added.

Chandigarh, June 17
The Chief Secretary today issued a notification to regularise the services of Group B employees working either on a contract or ad hoc basis.

The notification says the employee engaged on a contract basis should have worked for not less than three years as on May 28. Similarly, the employee or worker should possess the prescribed qualifications for the post on the date of appointment or engagement and the post against which the regularisation is to be done should be a duly sanctioned vacant post at the time of initial appointment or engagement and also at the time of regularisation.

The notification states that the reservation policy issued from time to time might also be kept in view at the time of regularisation. In case the roster meant for the reserved category is consumed by the general or other category the next vacancy would be filled from the said reserved category or vice versa. The work and conduct of such employee or worker should have been satisfactory adding that the contributory pension scheme would be applicable after regularisation of the service.

The regularisation of Group-B employees working on a contract basis would be with effect from the date of issuance of the notification by the department concerned. Such posts against which regularisation is considered were to be taken out of the purview of the Haryana Public Service Commission. As such, the departments concerned would be required to complete the process for regularisation of services of such employees in consultation with the Haryana Public Service Commission.

The government has decided that only those Group B employees working on an ad hoc basis whose services could not be regularised vide the state government policy dated March 7, 1996, would be regularised with effect from the date they were eligible as per the above policy.

Pehowa (Kurukshetra) June 17
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Chief Avtar Singh Makkar criticised Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs by raising the issue of a separate gurdwara committee in the state.

Makkar was here today at a gurdwara in Pehowa to meet the families from Karah Sahib who have been evicted from their lands.

The SGPC chief said “The Congress has always tried to interfere in the religious affairs of the Sikhs and that is what the CM Hooda is doing. He is trying to woo the Sikh voters with the promise of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, which is unacceptable. Moreover, setting up separate committee is not an easy task and may even require the interference of the Centre. It would again remain an unfulfilled promise like the one made in two previous Assembly elections.” He also criticised the HSGPC (ad hoc) president Jagdish Singh Jhinda and former general secretary Didar Singh Nalvi for raising the same issue.

Makkar appealed to the gathering to boycott the Sikh Mahasammelan being orgainsed at Kaithal on July 6 by the Jhinda faction. He said “It is a Congress Mahasammelan. Only the people who want to divide the community would gather there.”

Makkar said “It has been a year since the families of Karah Sahib are fighting for their survival but the Congress has done nothing. The SGPC has been making all the arrangements for these families since then. Taking care of these people is our duty. Today Rs 21 lakh was disbursed among 117 families and we will continue to make arrangements until these people get back into their homes.”

“Usually, the manifesto of political parties promises employment, better roads, medical facilities and other developments but Congress party’s manifesto looks at dividing the Sikhs and the gurdwaras”, he said.

Chandigarh, June 17
The state government has launched a special campaign to speed up the handing over of plots to eligible beneficiaries under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojna.

An official spokesman said here today that all eligible beneficiaries such as SCs, backward classes-A and BPL families could approach the Block Development and Panchayat Officer concerned in this connection.

He said so far the possession had been given to 3.63 lakh of the 3.83 lakh families allotted these plots. Simultaneously, gift deeds would also be executed in favour of all such beneficiaries.

Chandigarh, June 17
Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad today instructed all Deputy Commissioners, who are also Electoral Officers in their respective areas,

to launch a special campaign in two phases to enable the voters to get their names included in the voter lists or deleted. This campaign would be launched on June 21 and 22 andJ une 28 and 29.The final voter’s list would be published on July 31.

Walgad asked the DCs to ensure the presence of booth-level officers (BLO) at polling booths so that those coming there during the campaign did not face any difficulty.

Gurgaon June 17
The BJP state media in charge Umesh Agrawal has alleged that a lot of fake names were included in the voter lists of the Gurgaon Assembly constituency.

The state unit has written letters to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, State Election Commissioner and the returning officer of Gurgaon to amend the voter lists before the Assembly poll scheduled later this year.

The BJP had identified as many as 3,994 fake voters in the lists, whose names had been registered at two or more places in the constituency. Most of the fake voters existing in underdeveloped area such as Sheetala Colony, Ashok Vihar and Gurgaon village.

There were 529 voters with same names, father's name and EPIC number but having two or more residential addresses. There were 238 voters whose name, photos, residential addresses, and EPIC numbers were the same but their names were registered at two different booths.

Sirsa, June 17
A man has approached the police for registering a case against a doctor of the local General Hospital on the charge of medical negligence.

Kaptan Singh’s pregnant wife Parveen Kaur was admitted to the hospital for delivery on January 15. He alleged he lost his child due to the negligence of the woman doctor, who did not perform the caesarean in time. Singh said he had given a complaint to Civil Surgeon Dr Surender Nain.

“When my wife and I reached the hospital in the morning, we were told the doctor, who was to perform the Cesarean, was not present and we would have to wait for her,” he said.

Singh said his wife cried in pain throughout the day, but no one tended to her. He called up the doctor on her mobile phone several times, but she disconnected the calls. The doctor performed the caesarean at 2.30 am. By that time, the baby had died.

Dr Surender Nain said he had asked Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Viresh Bhushan to conduct an inquiry. He said it was not a case of stillbirth and the newborn died after he was shifted to the nursery.

The JJ police post in-charge denied having received any complaint. 

Jind, June 17
Two days after the official start of paddy transplantation in the state, farmers are grappling with a crunch of water, power and migrant labour. What is worrisome is that the shortage is likely to get acute.

“We need uninterrupted power to sow paddy, as the crop needs large quantities of water. But the Power Department has started long-duration power cuts on the pretext of a ‘fault in the line’. Many of us are yet to start paddy transplantation,” said Joginder of Dhakal village.

Jind district has 2.42 lakh hectare fertile land. Last year, farmers had transplanted paddy on 1.18 lakh hectares. Though the Agriculture Department will release exact figures of area under paddy this year at the end of July, the area is expected to remain the same as last year, with things getting tougher for paddy farmers.

“I have made two rounds of Ambala railway station and one round of Panipat station to find migrant labourers. I hired some, but fewer migrant labourers are coming to the city. We are ready to pay more and offer better facilities, but are not able to get required labour for our fields,” said Suresh of Ahirka village.

Officers of the local Agriculture Department have warned of a drought-like situation if farmers do not get required power as the Met Office has already forecast deficient rains.

Department figures show that in many areas of Jind such as Safidon and Pillukhera water is available a little below the ground and some hours of rain and electricity supply may provide the much-needed help to farmers.

“Farmers are waiting for rain, as despite having tubewells, they believe rain is the best source of water for them. Officially, paddy transplantation started from June 15. We hope the land under paddy will remain the same as last year” said Sunil Kumar, an officer posted in the local office of the Agriculture Department.

Hisar, June 17
Easyday, a retail unit of the Bharti Mittal Group, has landed in trouble over allegations of selling products above maximum retail price and even some expired goods in Hisar.

On the complaint of Hisar-based customer Amit Pruthi, a local court directed the police to register a case and initiate action against the retail firm.

Pruthi, a resident of Sector 15 here, has put together several instances of purchases made above the MRP from Easyday stores in Hisar and Gurgaon. One product given to him was past the expiry date.

The manager of the Easyday store at Hisar's Kaimary Road denied the charges.

Pruthi said the stores were misleading customers by advertising “lowest prices” on products sold. He said Bharti owned 120 Easyday stores across India that were launched in 2008. He accused the group of cheating costumers by fraud, which needed to be investigated as it could involve large sums of money.

On a petition filed by Pruthi in the court of judicial magistrate Sohan Lal Malik here today, the court directed the police to investigate the case under Section 156(3) of the CrPC.

Panchkula, June 17
A class VI student was allegedly gangraped by two youths in Shahzadpur, Ambala, last evening. The victim’s medical examination at the General Hospital today confirmed the crime.

The local police arrested the accused, Vikram and Deepak. The victim’s mother is a maid while her father is a labourer. The victim, a resident of Shahzadpur, was alone at home in the evening, when two youths came on a bike. The accused staying in the locality had been eyeing the victim for quite some time, the police stated.

“They took me on the bike after tying a cloth on my mouth. I was taken to an isolated place where they committed the crime,” said the victim. The boys threatened the girl of dire consequences if she related the incident to anyone before dropping her back home,” said the police.

After the victim’s mother came home, the girl informed her following which a complaint was lodged.

Cop comes to rescue
When the local police refused to take the case seriously, an elderly cop took her to Panchkula at his expense for medical examination and arrested the accused. Sub-Inspector Kripal Singh himself conducted the investigations and took her to the hospital after he found that the hospital authorities in Shahzadpur were dilly-dallying in the case.

Rewari, June 17
A Delhi Police constable and his four accomplices were arrested with over 40 quintal chura post (opium powder) worth around Rs 50 lakh.

A joint team of the CIA and the Khol police raided a room in the fields at Rewari’s Bhoka village yesterday and seized the contraband. Rewari DSP Satish Kumar said the accused disclosed during investigation that the opium powder packed in 99 gunny bags was being taken to Punjab from Rajasthan.

“A Delhi Police constable, identified as Kripal of Mandola village, is the kingpin of this gang and is at present posted at the Crime Branch of Chanakya Puri Police Station in Delhi. A service revolver has been recovered from him,” said the DSP. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against eight accused. Three of them are absconding.

The DSP said they got a tip-off that a large amount of opium had been kept in a room in the fields of Bohka village. A joint team of the CIA and Khol police raided the spot and found eight accused, including Kripal, loading the bags carrying opium on to a tractor-trolley.

Three of them escaped, but five were nabbed. Besides Kripal, the other arrested have been identified as Arvind and Sanjay of Mandola, Amir Singh of Bhoka and Dinesh of Bichauli village in Badaun district (Uttar Pradesh), the DSP said.

The DSP said the opium was brought to Bhoka village from Rajasthan in a Canter and was to be taken to Punjab in a tractor-trolley. The tractor trolley being used in the crime had also been seized, he added.

From R’sthan to Punjab A joint team of the CIA and Khol police raided a room in the fields of Bhoka village They found eight persons, including Delhi Police constable Kripal, loading 99 bags filled with opium on to a tractor-trolley Rewari DSP Satish Kumar said the opium was brought to the village from Rajasthan in a Canter and was to be taken to Punjab in a tractor-trolley