Sacked staffer gets breather

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court has set aside a public sector undertaking?s order relieving an employee of his job after nearly 25 years of service.

The court castigated the National Building Construction Corporation for its ?insensitive? attitude towards chief foreman S.D. Joshi.

?A person who has served an employer for almost his entire work life should not be shunted out on technical grounds,? Justice Vikramajit Sen said, setting aside the corporation?s July 2004 order relieving Joshi. The judge advised the corporation to take a ?well-considered decision beneficial to the employee?.

Joshi had joined the corporation in 1980 on deputation as foreman mechanic from the General Reserve Engineering Force for a two-year period that was extended for a year. He quit his parent organisation in October 1983 on the advice of the corporation as it wanted to absorb him, counsel Kaushal Yadav said. Joshi had approached the court in 1984 after the corporation wanted to repatriate him to the engineering force.

The court said Joshi had a prima facie case for absorption and directed the corporation in July 1985 to let him continue till the case was decided. Joshi?s petition was dismissed in 2004 for his failure to appear before the court following which the corporation dismissed him.

North shivers in cold wave

Chandigarh (PTI): Cold-wave conditions intensified in parts of northern India with Amritsar shivering at minus 0.4 degree Celsius, five degrees below normal.

In Haryana, Ambala braved a cold night at 4.3 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal, while Karnal also witnessed chilly weather at 4.5 degrees Celsius, down two degrees, the meteorological department said.

The low at Ludhiana in Punjab plunged three degrees below normal to 3.4 degrees Celsius. Patiala also had a cold night at 5 degrees Celsius, down two degrees.

The cold-wave sweeping across the Kashmir valley intensified after a fresh spell of snowfall in the higher reaches during the past few days. Srinagar experienced severe chill at minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.

Shimla had a cold night at 1.5 degrees Celsius, down one degree. Sundernagar recorded a low of 4 degrees Celsius while Bhuntar had a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, down two degrees.

Man gets life for sodomy

Vadodara (PTI): A fast-track court has sentenced a person to life imprisonment for sodomy.

Additional sessions judge P.A. Dave held Sunil Kharva guilty under sections 377 and 363 of the IPC and the atrocity act. He was also fined Rs 2,000. Kharva, a resident of Gajrawadi locality, had abused his neighbour?s child in a field in April 2004.

Inmates escape

Bhopal (PTI): Twenty seven inmates of a juvenile home escaped after midnight on Saturday. The inmates broke open the doors of the home and ran away. However, 17 of them were apprehended later and efforts were on to nab the rest, police said.

Liquor seized

Jammu (PTI): Five women were arrested in Jammu and Kathua districts and 1,300 litres of country-made liquor seized, in a series of raids by the excise department. Cases have been registered against the women under the Jammu and Kashmir Excise Act for possession of illicit liquor, official sources said.

Eunuch suicide

Ahmedabad (PTI): An eunuch, Anju, committed suicide in a hotel by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in Gheekanta area. Anju killed herself when her roommate was away, police said.

Train derails

Shajapur (PTI): Rail traffic was disrupted for more than 11 hours after five bogies of a goods train derailed on Saturday night near Mohhamadkheda railway station in the Ujjain-Bhopal section in Madhya Pradesh. No one was injured, railway sources said. Rail traffic was restored in the section at 10.45 am on Sunday.

Bodies charred

Jaipur (PTI): Three charred bodies of restaurant employees were found at Thanagaji near Alwar. Banwari, Mukesh and Duhar Chouhan, sleeping in a room of the restaurant on Saturday, could have died when their quilts accidentally caught fire from burning bidis, police said.

The 40,000 strong Sindhi community in the United Arab Emirates has taken exception to a public interest litigation seeking deletion of the word ?Sindh? from the national anthem on the grounds that it no longer is a part of India.