Jhajjar : Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Chhatra Parivahan Suraksha scheme would be launched for girl students this year to provide them free transportation to their educational institutions. Under the scheme, the Education Department would arrange private vehicles to ferry girl students to their schools or colleges, considering their safety.
Khattar made this announcement while addressing a gathering after launching the Jagriti project meant for the safety of girls. He gave away a reward of Rs 1.5 crore to Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter Manu Bhaker on the occasion.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia’s father Balwan Singh and another wrestler Sumit Kumar’s mother Sunila Singh were also honoured for the medal-winning performances of their sons in the just-concluded Games. Bajrang and Sumit both belong to Jhajjar district and are yet to return from Australia.

“The Chhatra Privahan Suraksha scheme has been formulated keeping in mind risks to girl students while they commute to their educational institutions. Villages that have no bus facility will benefit from the scheme. Girl students in a group can give an application to their school or college head to avail of the scheme. Auto-rickshaws or buses, according to the requirement, will be provided to them free of cost,” said Khattar.

He said that his government was committed to ensuring the safety of women and girls in the state and hence taking effective steps in this direction. The government was also mulling over forming Durga Shakti Force comprising policewomen to check crime against women. The plan would be finalised soon, he added.
Manu Bhaker felicitated

Shooter Manu Bhaker was felicitated at her native Goria village in the district for winning a gold medal in the just-concluded Commonwealth Games. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Abhay Singh Chautala, Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal attended the function and blessed the 16-year-old shooting sensation.
Deepender said that he had requested Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for a shooting range of international standards at Manu’s native village. He announced to provide Rs 21 lakh from his MPLAD fund for it.

Later, the MP, while talking to mediapersons, said that on the one hand, the BJP government claimed that every sportsperson winning a medal in international tournaments would be given a reward, on the other, several of them were yet to get the reward even several months after winning medals.

Earlier, schoolchildren enthralled the gathering by presenting a colourful cultural progamme.

‘Manu, have you checked you bank-balance’

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made everyone laugh when he asked Manu Bhaker that whether she had checked her bank balance? "I have not presented you just a piece of cardboard in the form of a cheque. The cash reward of Rs 1.5 crore has been credited to your bank account. There is standing instructions to the state sports authorities that the reward amount should be transferred to the bank accounts of sportspersons immediately after their felicitation," he said. He asked Manu to check her bank balance after the function.

Gurugram : A 35-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for strangulating his wife. The accused, Hari Om, allegedly killed his wife because he was unhappy with her overindulgence in social media.
He said his wife mostly remained occupied in online activities, thus neglecting him and their two children. He reportedly had an argument with his wife over the issue on Saturday following which he strangulated her.
Hari Om was booked under Section 302 of the IPC on the basis of a complaint by his father-in-law, who found his daughter dead at her home. The police are investigating the case.

Hyderabad : MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday blamed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the acquittal of five accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast, saying it deliberately failed to produce evidence against them.

Owaisi, who is the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, said it was a malicious and biased prosecution done by the NIA which is why the accused could not get conviction. He also claimed many witnesses had turned hostile after 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre.

On May 18, 2007, a blast near the Charminar in Hyderabad killed nine persons and injured 58. Five others were killed in police firing in the violence that followed the explosion.

An NIA court today acquitted five of the 10 accused named in the charge sheet. The court said the evidence against them was not satisfactory.

“The NIA deliberately did not pursue the case. When the accused got bail, the NIA did not appeal seeking cancellation of bail within the mandatory period of 90 days. This itself shows the prosecution was so biased,” said Owaisi.

He questioned the fate of the criminal justice system in the country if this kind of situation continued.

“I blame it entirely on the Narendra Modi government and the NIA for failing to bring the accused to book and let the criminal off. It is a failure of the Modi government,” he said.

Asked whether he would appeal in the Supreme Court against the NIA verdict, the Owaisi said when the NIA was not coming forward to produce the evidences, what else one could do. “We cannot expect anything better from the government,” he said.

Gurdaspur : The site of the proposed government medical college and hospital has sparked off a turf war among senior Congress leaders, including MLAs.
MP Sunil Jakhar, who has been asked by the CM to finalise the location, has said that it would be equidistant from all major towns of Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency.
Party insiders, however, claim that the MP is under pressure from his own party leaders who are demanding that the prestigious entity be established in their respective Assembly seats.
Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Bajwa’s logic is that since the Dhariwal woollen mill has almost shut down, leading to the loss of hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, the college should be established near Dhariwal. “The PAU has 25 acres in Dhariwal on the Gurdaspur-Batala highway. The site is equidistant from Sri Hargobindpur, Qadian, Batala, Fatehgarh Churian and Dera Baba Nanak,” he said. Dhariwal forms part of Bajwa’s Qadian seat.
Pathankot legislator Amit Vij wants the location to be in Pathankot. “That way, the hospital can also cater to patients of HP and J&K. At present, patients -- in emergency cases -- have to be shifted to Amritsar, 110 km away,” he said.
Former Batala MLA Ashwani Sekhri said that as Batala catered to five Vidhan Sabha seats, the government should buy land on the Batala-Amritsar highway.
“Batala is the biggest sub-divisional town in Punjab and is a known industrial hub. It is also vying for district status. Keeping in view the poor healthcare facilities available, it is high time the hospital is set up here,” said Sekhri.
A powerful section of residents want the hospital to come up adjacent to the Verka milk plant on the Gurdaspur-Pathankot road. This move has the blessings of the local MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra.
It remains to be seen whether Jakhar will be able to stick to his stand of “no vote-bank politics will be allowed to come in the way” when the final decision is made.
Tough call for Jakhar
MP Sunil Jakhar, who has been asked by the CM to finalise the location, has said that the medical college will be equidistant from all major towns of Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency. It remains to be seen whether Jakhar will be able to keep vote-bank politics out of the way when the decision is made.

Chandigarh : Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medal winners hailing from Haryana will get Rs 1.5 crore each, Sports Minister Anil Vij said on Sunday. He congratulated athletes from Haryana for winning 22 medals — nine gold, six silver and seven bronze.
Every silver medallist will get Rs 75 lakh, while a bronze medal winner will get Rs 50 lakh. India’s new shooting sensations Anish Banwala (15) and Manu Bhaker (16) hail from Haryana.

Every gold medal winner would be entitled to a Class A job in the Haryana Government, while a silver and  bronze medallist will get Class B and C jobs, respectively, Vij added.