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HARYANA |
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JIND
Three arrested for rape:
Three persons have been arrested on the charge of raping a girl hailing from the trans-railway colony here. As per the complainant, she had gone out to fetch water on April 21 when one Sumer forcibly took her to a nearby house where his two other accomplices were
waiting. She alleged that the three raped her. SONEPAT
Activists block road: Activists of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Disha Manch, the Jan Chetana Sangharsh Manch and the Jan Sangharsh Manch of Gohana town on Sunday blocked the Gohana-Rohtak road demanding the arrest of the three miscreants who had fired at and injured a trader Jai Prakash Gupta on Saturday
evening.
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
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CHAMBA
Council demands more funds: The Chamba municipal council has demanded 50 per cent share from the earnings of the Minjar Fair held every year to compensate for the money spent on the upkeep of
Chowgan. President of the council Kusum Kumari said Chowgan and other areas have been damaged due to the fair and the council needed funds to revive it.
JANGAL BERI (HAMIRPUR)
Drinking water project: Project engineers and contractors of the Rs 67.47 crore Bamsan-Mewa-Gawardu-Sameerpur drinking water scheme crore are working overtime to achieve the targeted commissioning of the scheme by October this year. The scheme, which began on October 28, 2006, will provide potable water to about 1 lakh persons under 42
panchayats.SOLAN
Dowry death alleged: Alleging death of her daughter Kirna Devi by her in-laws, Laxmi Devi, a resident of Therra village in Nalagarh tehsil, lodged a case of dowry death against them. The widow said Kirna’s brother-in-law made a call at 5 am on Tuesday informing her that Kirna had died. She alleged that her daughter, who had been married for two years to Surjit Singh of Samhera village, had repeatedly been harassed for dowry. The police has registered a case. Protest against cops’ attitude: Villagers of Kot Dumehar in Arki tehsil on Friday protested against the attitude of the police in the murder case of Jagat Ram (60), a Dalit man, who had been missing since Wednesday. His body was found from a village nullah on Friday morning, brutally beaten. The villagers said the police treated the case as a routine one and failed to act swiftly, though the family had lodged a complaint on Wednesday, naming the accused.
Regional potpourri
Collector’s addition
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Abinashi Singh
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For septuagenarian Abinashi Singh, a resident of Jandiala Guru near Amritsar, setting up a museum to preserve the handwritten documents of the Sikh gurus and other related items was a long-cherished dream. It has finally taken shape as the Gaganmai Thaal International Mini Museum.Having been conferred with the Punjab Rattan award by former President of India, late Giani Zail Singh, this 73-year-old resident has converted the lobby of his house into a museum to exhibit 144 handwritten documents and pictures of the Sikh gurus, eminent writers and freedom fighters. With space being a constraint, he has been able to display only a small part of his collection. “But I am working towards expanding it. My wife and NRI son have contributed a lot of hard work in shaping this small room into a museum,” says Abinashi Singh, who is keen to put up exhibitions of rare documents in all parts of the state. His passion for these exhibits came to the fore during his youth, when he was working in Uttar Pradesh. Starting out with a collection of a few pictures, it has become a life-long passion. “I had been looking for a place to exhibit my collection that was gathering dust. Then, we decided that our house was the best place. I wish I could put up more items on display. Who knows, one day, my entire house may be converted into a museum?” he says. Having organised about 150 exhibitions across the country and the world, including many European and Asian nations, he says his aim is to spread worldwide the glorious heritage of Punjab. Informative, right?
Jagdish Chander Bangla |
With a view to explaining different aspects of the Right To Information Act, 2005, to lawyers, judicial officers, civil servants and the people, in general, a Rohtak-based publisher, Jagdish Chander Bangia, has brought out a book on the law. He runs The Bright Law House, New Delhi, that specialises in law-related books. He gives all credit for this pioneering venture to the authors. The book, titled “A Commentary and Digest on The Right to Information Act, 2005”, has been written by Dheera Khandelwal and her husband K.K.Khandelwal, both of whom are senior IAS officers of the Haryana cadre. Khandelwal is currently pursuing a Ph.D in management. He has authored a few books earlier as well. His wife has written several articles on women-related issues and administrative matters. The book was released by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain in Chandigarh recently. In the foreword to the book, Haryana Chief Secretary Prem Prashant has complimented the authors for explaining the salient provisions of the RTI Act for the benefit of government officials, the Bench and Bar, NGOs and the public. “I hope that this book will create an awareness about the right to information and be a user-friendly guide for anyone interested in the subject,” he writes. Contributed by Kanchan Vasdev
and Sunit Dhawan
Beti Bachao
 Spurred by the dramatic improvement in the sex ratio in several villages of Bhiwani district over the past year or so, the district Red Cross has launched a campaign to motivate women to help better the ratio further. Deputy commissioner Mohinder Kumar, who is spearheading the campaign, says groups of women are being voluntarily administered an oath against sex determination tests, female foeticide and discriminatory behaviour towards others of their gender. He believes that women themselves can end these social evils if they are sufficiently motivated and empowered. This has been borne out by a recent surveys conducted in several villages of the district. While the ratio has improved in dozens of villages, there are many hamlets in which there are still more boys than girls. The Red Cross Society is also using the traditional village practice of lota-namak to motivate newly wed girls. Each bride now has to take a pledge while holding salted water in a lota that she will not agree to sex determination tests nor allow the termination of her pregnancy if she is carrying a girl child. The society is empowering women in other ways too. It has set up sewing centres in two dozen villages where rural girls are trained in the art and craft of stitching. The clothes are then marketed by the society itself. Last fiscal, sewing machines worth Rs 10 lakh were given to young women. The society also honoured the Kargil martyrs by presenting National Savings Certificates to their kin. As many as 300 members of the martyrs’ families were given certificates worth Rs 5000 each. In recognition of the society’s efforts, it has been invited to put up an exhibition on the Beti Bachao theme to mark International Red Cross Day at Kaithal on May 8. — Raman Mohan
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