Chandigarh :
Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala alleged on Wednesday that on the one hand, the BJP government had announced schemes for the welfare and protection of animals and on the other, it was promoting the animal slaughtering industry in the state.

Addressing a press conference here, Abhay Chautala alleged that the BJP government was shielding a Chandigarh-based industrialist who wanted to set up a meat plant at Jaspur in Kalka. Instead of taking cognisance of people’s protests, the police have registered cases against the Sarpanch and other villagers.

Accusing the BJP of double standards, he alleged that the government never tires of claiming to be the protector of cows and have also enacted a number of laws for their welfare. However, hundreds of cows have died because of hunger and diseases across gaushalas in the state, he alleged.

Expressing concern at the rising narcotics trade in the state, the INLD leader accused the authorities of conniving with drug peddlers.

Chandigarh :
A survey by the police in Sirsa has revealed that youths in as many as 90 out of 330-odd villages of the district are addicted to drugs like heroin.
Sirsa SP Hamid Akhtar is learnt to have sent a list of these villages to Director General of Police BS Sandhu. He has requested Sandhu to take up with the government the issue of providing sports facilities to these villages so that youths could channelise their energy towards sports rather than drugs.
The SP has also taken up the issue of increasing the number of beds at drug de-addiction centres in the district with Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh.
Confirming these developments, Akhtar said that after identifying the menace of drugs as the most important problem of the district, he had launched “Prabal Prahar”, a drive against drugs two months back. The survey was part of that campaign.
He said that the initiative “Prabal Prahar” involves an offensive against drugs, opening channels with people for getting information about drug traffickers and peddlers, creating awareness among the people through a campaign and rehabilitation of addicts.
Prominent villages that figured in the survey conducted by the police are Panihari, Musahibwala, Mallekan, Mangala and Vaidwala coming under Sadar police station; Sirsa, Desujodha, Shergarh and Dabwali villages under Dabwali City police station; Matdadu, Saktakhera, Hebuala, Mangeana, Phullo, Chatta and Tigri under Sadar Dabwali; Kariwala, Sant Nagar, Damdama, Bani and Nagrana from Rania; Ludesar and Najia Khera from Nathusari Chopta; Odhan, Jandwala, Chormar, Kingre, Bhukkanwali, Salemkhera, Jalalana, Kheowali, Malikpura and Rajpura from Odhan.
The survey also includes Chiknidhab, Ellenabad, Talwara, Poharka, Musli and Mirzapur from Ellenabad; Ding Mandi, Narelkhera, Bhawdeen and Bagguwali from Ding; Biruwala, Badaguda, Lakranwali, Raghuana and Sahuwala from Badagura; Singhpura, Kalanwali, Desumalkana, Kewal, Gadrana, Kamal, Pakka Sahida, Hansu, Dadu and Aseer from Kalanwali; and Rori, Faggu, Thiraj, Kurangawali and Jhorarrohi coming under Rori police station.
The police have also identified Town Park, railway station, Subhash Basti, JJ Colony and green belts of Sirsa town where drug addicts consume heroin and other intoxicants.
Meanwhile, after inputs that drugs like heroin are being supplied to addicts in the government-run de-addiction centre, the district authorities in Sirsa have taken several measures to check it.
Priyanka Sinha, Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associate (CMGGA) at Sirsa, said that the number of beds at the centre have also been increased from 10 to 22.
She said security has been deployed outside the de-addiction centre to stop unauthorised persons from entering. Also, unique identity slips were being issued to the relatives of inmates.
On the job 
The survey was part of ‘Prabal Prahar’, a drive against drugs launched two months ago
Sirsa SP Hamid Akhtar is learnt to have sent a list of villages to Director General of Police BS Sandhu
He has requested Sandhu to take up with the government the issue of providing sports facilities to these villages so that youths could channel their energy towards something fruitful 

New Delhi :
The Haryana government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking early hearing in the matter related to its row with Punjab over the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.
The matter was mentioned before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

The Bench asked Haryana's counsel to approach the apex court registry for listing of the matter before an appropriate Bench.

The apex court had earlier granted the Centre time to explore the possibility of an amicable solution to the SYL canal row between Punjab and Haryana.

On July 11, the apex court said it was obligatory for Punjab and Haryana to respect and execute its orders on the SYL canal issue.

The controversial 1981 water-sharing agreement came into being after Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966. For effective allocation of water, the SYL canal link was conceptualised and both states were required to construct their portions within their territories.

Haryana constructed the portion of SYL canal in its territory. However, Punjab, after the initial phase, stopped the work, leading to a spate of litigations.

In 2004, the Congress government in the state came out with the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act with the intention to terminate the 1981 agreement and all other pacts relating to sharing waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers.

The apex court had first decreed Haryana's suit in 2002 asking Punjab to honour its commitments with regard to water sharing in the case.

Punjab had challenged the verdict by filing an original suit that was rejected in 2004 by the Supreme Court which asked the Centre to take over the remaining infrastructure work of the SYL canal project.

Rewari :
Rewari SP Rajesh Duggal on Tuesday launched Durga Shakti mobile app at a programme held in Government Women College in Sector 18 here.

Women would be able to seek immediate police help through this app, that could be downloaded from Google play store. The SP also flagged off Durga Shakti riders and PCRs on the occasion.

“A total of 74 women and men have been deputed at Durga Shakti vehicles, that will patrol main markets and areas outside educational institutes to ensure the security of girls and women,” said Duggal.

He added that the police would make girls and women aware about the app so that they could use it for getting police help at the time of a crisis.

Chandigarh :
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) witnessed another reshuffle, second in the past one year, with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar getting the lion’s share as before with 19 departments.

Khattar’s Additional Principal Secretary Rakesh Gupta comes next with charge of 11 departments.

In the re-allocation of departments, which comes within almost four months of the last reshuffle held on March 19, Khullar will handle all matters related to legislative business, development and panchayats, ayush, excise and taxation, finance, power, food and civil supplies, forests and wildlife, general administration and personnel, health, home, criminal investigation and administration of justice, industry and mines, medical education, PWD (Buildings and Roads), revenue, rehabilitation and consolidation, higher education, school education, technical education and town and country planning.

Khullar will also be overall in charge of the CMO, CMO establishment and also look after subjects not allotted to anyone else.

Gupta will handle cooperation, electronics and IT, industrial training and vocational education, public health engineering, renewable energy, social justice and empowerment, labour and employment, welfare of SCs and STs, women and child development, cultural affairs and agriculture.

Gupta gets labour and employment from CM’s OSD Amarender Singh and cultural affairs from another OSD Capt Bhupinder who has since been appointed chairman of Confed.
Mandeep Singh Brar, Deputy Principal Secretary to the CM, will handle elections, architecture, environment, housing, irrigation, science and technology, fisheries, animal husbandry and urban local bodies.

Brar gets urban local bodies from Gupta, while animal husbandry is also a new addition to his departments.

Rajneesh Garg, Aide De Camp (Tours), will look after the jails and transport, while IFS officer Alok Verma, another ADC, will look after sports and youth affairs, and tourism as before.

OSD Amarjit Singh will deal with matters related to the CM Relief Fund, the CM’s announcements, Waqf and the Haryana Rural Development Fund.

OSD Amarendra Singh, who lost labour and employment to Gupta, will now look after printing and stationery and archaeology and museum, while Bhupeshwar Dayal will look after archive and grievances.

Before March 19 reshuffle, the CMO had witnessed re-distribution of departments on August 19 last year.

Sources in the CMO said that it was a routine reshuffle necessitated largely due to exit of Capt Bhupinder in May this year.