Child’s fee pushes farmer to death
Guntur (PTI): Unable to arrange money for his daughter’s engineering college fees, a debt-burdened farmer in the district has committed suicide.
Monday is the last day for paying fees in A. Sadananda Rao’s daughter’s college in Baptala.
A small farmer, Rao cultivated cotton and chillies on his three-acre land and had incurred heavy debts due to cultivation expenses, police said. Overcome with distress, the 45-year-old farmer hanged himself from a tree in the field on Saturday night.
A letter addressed to the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, with details of his economic woes, was found in his pocket, the police said.
Suspension rap for absent staff
Srinagar (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir government has suspended 24 officials, including eight teachers, for unauthorised absence from work, an official spokesman said on Sunday.
Fourteen of the officials posted in Pulwama district were found absent from duty by Syed Bashir Ahmad, the minister of state for public health and engineering, during a surprise inspection on Saturday.
He directed the deputy commissioner of Pulwama to take appropriate action against the absentees. The 14 are now under suspension, the spokesman said.
He said special squads of the school education department inspected various schools in Anantnag and found eight teachers absent at Bon-Dialgam. They, too, have been suspended.
The chief executive officer of Gulmarg Development Authority also suspended a draftsman and a junior assistant for remaining absent from duty on Saturday. The spokesman asked the government officials to be punctual, or else face the consequences.
Notices to UP ministers
Ghaziabad (PTI): A division bench of Allahabad High Court has issued notices against three Uttar Pradesh ministers, an MP and nine senior officials of Saharanpur district following a writ petition filed by 12 sand contractors.
The contractors alleged that their contracts were cancelled under political pressure and false cases were lodged against them. The bench issued notices to 13 people, including small-scale industry minister Jagdish Rama, state transport minister Rajender Rana, PWD minister Sanjay Garg and MP R. Massod.
Flesh trade arrests
Sonepat (PTI): Police claim to have busted a flesh trade racket here with the arrest of four persons, including two Delhi-based women and a bank manager. The four were arrested during a raid in a building on New Court Road. The accused, the police said, admitted being involved in a trafficking racket.
Pilgrim record
Jammu (PTI): A record 60 lakh devotees from the country and abroad are expected to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine in Trikuta Hills. Nearly four lakh more arrivals were reported in the last six months compared to last year, additional chief executive officer of the shrine board, Rohit Kansal said on Sunday. Vaishno Devi receives the second highest number of pilgrims after Tirupati.
Cop harassed
Ajmer (PTI): A police constable set himself on fire to protest against alleged harassment by his seniors. Official sources said Pawan Sonwal was rushed to hospital with 80 per cent burns on Saturday evening and is serious. Sonwal allegedly set himself ablaze after pouring petrol, crying out that he was being marked absent by superiors despite being on duty.
Arms drop case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has ordered attachment of the property of B. Rameshan, an accused in the Purulia arms drop case, for Fera violation which came to light after the CBI found foreign currency in his home during raids in 1996. Rameshan is absconding. The go-ahead to attach his property was given by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate.
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A two-month puppy, found with only his hind legs, was fitted with artificial limbs. Chhotu was 25 days old when NGO activists found him near a gutter in Mulund. Orthopaedic surgeon Mukesh Doshi then came forward and fitted Chhotu with artificial legs.
