Get top positions in MDU, SUPVA & colleges in dist

Rohtak :

Girl students have bagged the top positions in the student union elections at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), State University of Performing and Visual Arts (SUPVA) and a majority of the colleges located in different parts of the district.

In fact, the top three positions of students’ union at the State University of Performing and Visual Arts (SUPVA) have been swept by girl students. While Divya Vats of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture has been elected as the union president, Tamanna Balhara of the Department of Design has been elected vice-president and Isha Gautam of the Department of Lifestyle Accessories has been elected secretary of the union.

SUPVA Students Union president Divya, who is the daughter of architectural model maker Harish Vats and home-maker Savita Vats of Delhi, says that their university was a unique integrated campus of different institutes and she would try to make it known across the country by organising events and coordinating with other institutions.
“I will also try to raise the voice of the students as till now, they had no such platform/mechanism to get their concerns addressed,” she maintained while talking to The Tribune on Friday.

Yashika of the Department of Zoology at the MDU has been elected the president of the MDU Students Union. Daughter of Kanwar Sain, a driver, and Neeta, a housewife of Rewari, Yashika says she had never thought of entering student union politics, but contested the election on being motivated by her friends and teachers.

“I will try to ensure that the provision of merit-based scholarships at the university, redress the students’ grievances related to hostel issues and ensure the safety of girl students on the university campus. We will also make efforts for the withdrawal of cases registered against the university students during the recent agitation against indirect elections. I will discuss the pressing concerns of the students with my team and then decide on the future course of action,” she said.

Know your leaders 

At SUPVA, Divya Vats has been elected the union president, Tamanna Balhara vice-president and Isha Gautam secretary of the union, while Yashika of the Department of Zoology has been elected the president of the MDU Students Union.

60 teachers to be affected

Chandigarh :

As part of its rationalisation policy, the Education Department has closed down 62 primary schools across the state.

Sonepat district accounts for the maximum nine such schools followed by six in Nuh district and five each in Bhiwani, Hisar, Gurugram and Yamunanagar districts. In all, four schools each will be closed in Rohtak and Kaithal districts.

Three schools each will be closed down in Ambala, Karnal and Rewari districts, while two schools each will be shut down in Fatehabad, Jind, Kurukshetra and Mahendragarh districts. In Jhajjar and Palwal, one school each will be shut.
An order from the Director, Elementary Education, dated October 16 directed District Education Officers to ensure that teachers working in schools, which will shut down or merged with other schools, should be shifted to nearby ones.

“At the time of rationalisation, the posts of teacher will be rationalised on the basis of requirement at that point of time. All such teachers shall compulsorily participate in the next transfer drive,” the order stated.

 Sources say the 62 schools have zero enrolment and have government primary schools in their vicinity (in most cases, within a radius of 500m). Students will not be affected, but about 60 teachers will be. They will be ‘adjusted’ in nearby schools or schools facing shortage, the sources say.

Meanwhile, the moveable assets of the 62 schools would be shifted to schools to which they would be merged. “When two schools are merged, a school may be shifted to a building of the school having better conditions,” the order stated.

252 drivers to be sacked; union extends protest by two days

Chandigarh :
Taking a strict view of the two-day strike by Haryana Roadways employees causing inconvenience to the public, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday directed the Transport Department to suspend employees and officers who are participating in this strike.

A decision was taken in the review meeting to suspend without issuance of any show-cause notice the drivers who were on probation and participated in the strike.
Similarly, 252 drivers who were on contract under Outsourcing Policy–II and joined the strike would also be removed from service from Wednesday.

The Chief Minister also took action against the officers and ordered suspension of the General Manager of Palwal and Works Manager of Bahadurgarh. He also ordered inquiry against the officers who indirectly participated in this strike.

 Besides this, a decision was taken to suspend the newly appointed clerks who were on probation period and participated in this strike.

During the review meeting, it was decided that an advertisement would be released to invite applications to appoint 930 conductors and 500 drivers under Outsourcing Policy–II.

Transport Minister, Krishan Lal Panwar; Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Rajesh Khullar; Additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department, Dhanpat Singh, were also present during the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Roadways workers union decided to extend the strike by two days even as Dhanpat Singh said there could not be any negotiations or compromise on introducing private buses.

The union, during an emergency meeting in Kaithal, decided to extend the ‘chakka jam’ to October 18 and 19 while criticising the government for its decision to impose ESMA and act against employees on strike.

Union leaders Harinarayan Sharma and Sarbat Punia said instead of reaching out to the protesting employees, the government was proceeding against them and termination of service was an attempt to crush the agitation.

Hisar :
Additional District and Sessions (ADJ) Judge DR Chalia awarded life imprisonment till death to Satlok Ashram head Rampal and 13 of his supporters, including a woman, for the murder of a disciple in November 2014.

Besides Rampal, the convicts are Raj Kapoor, Rajender, Balwan, Pawan, Rajiv Sharma, Rajesh alias Ramesh, Natwar Lal, Rajesh, Ramchander, Joginder, Virender, Babita and Krishan.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.05 lakh on each of the 14 convicts. They were awarded rigorous imprisonment till death without remission in the murder and criminal conspiracy charges. A jail term of two years was also awareded on charges of wrongful confinement.

The police had booked them under Sections 302, 343 and 120-B of the IPC on November 14, 2014, in connection with the murder of a disciple, Rajni, in Satlok Ashram.

The police had to storm the ashram to arrest Rampal to implement the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to produce him before the court in a contempt of court case.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced Rampal and 14 of his aides to life imprisonment till death for the murder of five women and a child in Satlok Ashram, Barwala.

The ADJ observed that “godmen” were in the news for all the wrong reasons. “From financial fraud to rape and even outright murder, their self-appointed leaders seem to be grabbing national attention on a fairly regular basis. The script is predictable. The guru may go to prison, but his followers refuse to stop believing in him,” the judge said, adding “those of us who don’t subscribe to this kind of blind, raging faith, find the phenomenon baffling”.

“We wonder who are these people and why do so many people believe in these dubious men and women to the extent that they are even willing to die for them,” the ADJ said in the order.

Gurugram :

The police officially declared that Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Krishan Kant’s gunman Mahipal had shot at his wife and son in a fit of rage, even as they claimed the judge’s family didn’t mistreat him.

Mahipal has reportedly confessed before an interrogating team of losing his cool when ADJ’s son Dhruv allegedly pulled him up for being untraceable when they returned from shopping.

On October 13, Mahipal shot at ADJ’s wife Ritu (37) and son Dhruv (18) in Arcadia market here. Ritu succumbed to her injuries, while Dhruv struggles for life.

Sumit Kumar, DCP (Crime), told the media here, “Ritu and Dhruv had asked head constable Mahipal to wait near the car while they went shopping. On returning, they did not find him near the car. They made several calls to him, but he did any answer any. When Mahipal came back, the mother-son duo scolded him. Dhruv asked for the car keys and that enraged Mahipal. So, he shot at them in cold blood.”

Videos recorded by bystanders show Mahipal trying to haul Dhruv into Honda City after the incident. When he failed to do so, he is seen getting into the car and fleeing.

The police said Mahipal wanted to “eliminate the evidence” by removing Dhruv from the spot. “He reacted on instinct. But seeing people filming him, he fled towards Faridabad. But he was nabbed,” the DCP said.

He denied the allegation of the judge’s family mistreating Mahipal. “The gunman told the interrogating team it was for the first time that he was pulled up and, not being habitual, he could not take it,” the police officer said.

The police further claimed there was no record of baptism of Mahipal. “The conversion theory is a mere rumour.”

Mahipal’s four-day police remand will end. “We are yet to decide whether or not we will seek further remand,” the DCP added.