Additional charge given

CHANDIGARH
Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Haryana Personnel, Training, Vigilance and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Director, Training and Director General, New and Renewable Energy, has also been given the charge of Director General, Supplies and Disposals, relieving Ashok Sangwan. TNS

GST committees

The state government has decided to constitute district-level committees to make smooth the process of adoption of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and hasten the transition from cash to digital payments in the state. Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said directions had been issued to the Excise and Taxation Department to constitute four to five-member committees in each district for the purpose. TNS

Gau aayog

The state government has appointed seven non-official members of Haryana Gau Seva Aayog. Vidya Sagar(Sirsa) would be Vice-Chairman. Other members include Rajender Bansal (Ambala), Gaurav Kumar (Yamunanagar), Puran Mal Yadav (Gurugram), Amit Bansal (Kurukshetra), Bal Krishan Matanheliya (Bhiwani) and Raj Saini (Jind). TNS

Selection panel

The government has constituted a Selection Committee for the purposes of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Model Rules, 2016. The committee would consist of Justice Bharat Bhushan Parsoon as chairperson, while Director, Women and Child Development Department would be its member secretary. Other members include Santosh Atreja, DR Sharma, Ramesh Kumar Bhardwaj, Promila Batra and Jyoti Bainda. TNS

Man kills wife

Karnal: A 43-year-old man, identified as Viney, allegedly killed his wife by slitting her throat in the wee hours of Friday. The deceased has been identified as Poonam (32). The couple had been married for 13 years and has two daughters aged nine and seven. Rajbir, SHO city, said the accused had been booked under Section 302 of the IPC. TNS

Make Assandh a district: Jhinda 

Karnal: Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Jagdish Singh Jhinda on Friday reiterated the demand for a district status to Assandh. "Assandh should be made a district as it is far from Karnal district headquarters. It has been neglected for long," he told the media here. Residents of about 150 villages of Assandh block in Karnal district, Safidon block (Jind) and Rajaund block (Kaithal) would start an indefinite dharna in Assandh on March 1, Jhinda said. He added the state government had been planning a survey of railway lines between Assandh and Yamunanagar via Karnal, but it should be between Jind-Assandh-Karnal and Yamunanagar. TNS

7 task groups for effective governance 

Chandigarh: The government has formed seven task groups to ensure effective governance. An official spokesperson said the task group for police service delivery would be headed by SK Sharma and PK Agarwal, ADGP (Headquarters), would be its member secretary. IAS officer JR Kundal would head the task group and Vikas Gupta, Transport Commissioner, would be its member secretary. Similarly, Harbhajan Singh would head the task group for the effective implementation of the Atal Seva Kendra and Vijayendra Kumar, Secretary, General Administration, would be its member secretary. LM Mehta would head the task group for grievance redressal.  tns

2 officials dismissed, 2 suspended 

Chandigarh: The government has issued suspension orders of two officials and dismissal notices to two others for dereliction of duty in attending public complaints on the CM Window. A review meeting, chaired by Additional Principal Secretary to the CM Rakesh Gupta and OSD to the CM Bhupeshwar Dayal, was held here on Friday. It was decided to suspend a naib tehsildar in a panchayat land case of Sonepat district and the principal, Government College, Kharkhoda, for his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of funds in the purchase of college furniture. Dismissal notices were issued to an assistant consolidation officer and a patwari, both from the Revenue Department. tns

Project to tackle stray cattle menace 

Chandigarh: The government is contemplating to implement a Rs 50-crore scheme to tackle with the problem of stray cattle especially foreign and crossbred cows. Under the scheme, 90 per cent female calf would be produced in the veterinary institutes of the state through artificial insemination in such cows using sexed semen. An official spokesman said efforts were being made to import the sexed semen technique for this purpose. Using sexed semen for artificial insemination is a pragmatic and easy way for quick production of dairy animals of the desired sex. He said the government had taken effective steps for conservation and development of buffaloes of famous murrah breed. tns

Slogans raised against Centre

Karnal: Scores of farmers of Assandh area under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Friday assembled at Karan Park and raised slogans against the Centre for not fulfilling its promises.  They alleged that the government had failed to implement the Swaminathan Commission report. Farmers handed over a memorandum to Mohan Lal, SHO Civil Lines, in support of their demands. TNS

Protest remains peaceful in K’shetra

Kurukshetra: Life continued normally amidst protest call given by various farm organisations on Friday. The police and Central security personnel continued to maintain a strict vigil in various parts of the state for the second consecutive day. No attempt was made to obstruct the traffic. TNS

Woman booked for thrashing child

Chandigarh: The police in Fatehabad on Friday booked a woman after her video in which she was allegedly seen thrashing a kid went viral on social media. The woman, Renu Jain, has maintained before the police that the kid was not her own, but she had adopted the child from Bathinda. The woman, however, failed to produce any documents to support her claim that the child was her adopted son. a child protection officer was sent to the woman's house at Dharamshala road after a video in which Renu was seen badly thrashing a 3-year-old child with fists, kicks and slippers went viral on social media on Thursday. TNS