Monday, October 5, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, October 5, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Mann has
pact with Amarinder: BJYM Four
gangs of Medical
faculty woes: a cry in wilderness? Pilgrims
throng Chakreshwari fair |
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Shahpur
project work Minister
pays surprise visit |
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Eggs thrown
at "shobha yatra" Probe
into gas leak ordered A
flowing stream of misery Pak
river inundates 16 border villages Cut
bureaucracy by 50 per cent: ex-CBI chief Declare
Amritsar world heritage city: minister |
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Mann has pact with Amarinder:
BJYM FAZILKA, Oct 4 — Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, president, Akali Dal (Amritsar), and Captain Amarinder Singh, president PPCC, have entered into a secret pact to disturb peace in Punjab and pave the way for a Congress victory in the next assembly poll alleged Tarun Chugh, president, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Punjab, while addressing a press conference here today. He said all statements of Mr Mann were aimed at offering political mileage to the Congress as the Akali Dal (Amritsar) did not have any mass base and he wanted to field his party candidate in the Adampur assembly byelection merely to divide the Sikh vote. To a question regarding the poll prospects of the BJP in four states which are to go to the polls in November youth BJP chief expressed confidence that while his party would retain power in Delhi and Rajasthan, it would emerge victorious in Madhya Pradesh by defeating Congress and improve its performance in Mizoram. ADAMPUR (PTI): Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, on Sunday accused the Union Food and Fertiliser Minister, Mr S.S. Barnala, of failure to issue directions to various central and state agencies to procure paddy at fixed prices and stop exploitation of farmers. "It was a matter of
shame that while the ruling Akali Dal leader was holding
the portfolio concerned at the Centre, Punjabi farmers
were being left at the mercy of the hoarders and
racketeers in the grain markets Mr Mann said addressing a
number of gatherings in Adampur as part of a ground
testing visit to the constituency which is going to the
polls on November 25. |
SAD threat may boomerang AMRITSAR, Oct 4 — The threat to the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) to pull down the Vajpayee-led coalition government on the issue of Udham Singh Nagar is likely to have an adverse effect on the forthcoming Adampur byelection and the Assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan scheduled to be held on November 25 as the Punjabis in general and the Sikhs in particular have balance of power in many of key-constituencies in these states. SAD had earlier demanded tickets from the BJP in these states which was turned down. Now there is a lot of pressure on Mr Parkash Singh Badal to force the BJP to allocate a considerable number of seats to SAD in these states. Mr Avtar Singh Hit, who was reinducted into the Sikh fold recently by the Sikh clergy, has already urged Mr Badal to press the BJP leadership to allocate at least 10 seats in Delhi alone. He has threatened that if the BJP did not oblige SAD then the party should contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in the Capital on its own. Mr Badal, on the other hand has said the party will stake its claim on the seats in the above states. In Sriganganagar and Hanuman-garh districts of Rajasthan, the Punjabis, particularly Sikhs, have dominance in at least seven of the nine Assembly segments. Most of the Punjabis migrated to Rajasthan from the adjoining Punjab districts, including Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot, Muktsar, Ferozepore and Moga. Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his family enjoy personal influence in these assemblies at one stage when Mr Badal was behind bars, Mrs Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of Mr Badal, had campaigned for the BJP in Rajasthan. Political observers say if Mr Badal carries out his threat on Udham Singh Nagar, the prospectus of the BJP might be adversely affected at least in Delhi and Rajasthan. On the other hand, the Adampur byelection will not be a cakewalk for SAD if both parties part company. Udham Singh Nagar has become a prestige issue for SAD. Insiders say if Mr Badal backs out from the ultimatum about the ground will be captured by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) will also gain more ground among the Sikh masses. The SAD leadership is
genuinely worried so far as the byelection of Adampur is
concerned in view of the endeavour by various political
alliances by the Congress, the BSP, the CPI, the CPM and
SAD (Amritsar), SAD (Democratic), SAD (Panthic) and
Rashtriya Loktantric Morcha etc. |
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Four gangs of thieves busted JALANDHAR, Oct 4 — The police claims to have busted four gangs of thieves, and recovered stolen property worth Rs 17.15 lakh. Briefing the media here today, the SSP, Mr P.S. Gill, said that the police, in a campaign against criminals indulging in robberies, had arrested 17 persons and recovered stolen property, including gold ornaments, diamonds, rice, sugar, cement, weapons, scooters, electronic articles and cash. He said a few days ago the police had arrested 11 members of these gangs consisting of 26 members. Now the police had arrested six more members of these gangs. They were Jagtar Singh, Nirmal Singh, Paramjit Singh Sodhi, Gian and Jagir Singh. He said the CIA had also busted another gang of hardcore criminals and arrested Pawan Kumar, Wilson and Rajan who had absconded in a case in which two .12-bore guns were looted from Bank of Patiala, here and attempt was made to break open the strong room. He said the modus operandi of Pawan Kumar, alias Des Raj, Titu, Babu, from Sohal village in Dhariwal was to change his identity every time he was arrested for the theft of weapons. A total of 11 cases of theft and burglary had been solved and the stolen property recovered would be handed over to owners after completing the legal formalities at the earliest, he said. Answering a query about the alleged mafia takeover of 84-acres of land here and the on-going firing at the site, the SSP said an inquiry was being conducted by Mr Suresh Arora, DIG, Jalandhar Range. The details of stolen
properties recovered is — gold ornaments and
diamonds, .32 bore imported revolver, rice 110 quintals,
220 bags of cement, gold ornaments, 110 quintals of
sugar, two TV sets, two decks, two scooters, one cycle,
one video camera, one automatic camera, one truck No
PCH-5417 LP Tata model-1988, cash, a .315 bore pistol and
six cartridges. |
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Medical faculty woes: a cry in
wilderness? CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — In any system of governance and administration, the name of the game is numbers. The number alone determines the strength and say of any given section of the people. If that be so, the medical faculty in Punjab stands disadvantaged and discriminated against. Its total number is less than 500 in all medical and dental colleges put together. These institutions are at Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot. The faculty attempt in September to strike to make itself heard and focus government attention on the working conditions did not cause a ripple as did the countrywide strike by university and college teachers because of their strength in terms of numbers alone. The existing Punjab medical faculty is in ferment. Its morale is at the nadir because of poor pay scales and lack of professional satisfaction. The government is too busy with mundane things to pay heed to medical and dental teachers whose students one day will join medical and health institutions being set up in the state. More than the teachers of these medical institutions it is government's own committee of five eminent professionals which had raised its voice on behalf of the medical faculty in its August 10 report. The committee of five (Dr S.S. Sidhu, Director-Principal, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Amritsar), Dr F. Handa (a retired Director of Research and Medical Education, Punjab), Dr L.S. Chawla (Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot), Dr S.B. Khurana (Principal, Daynand Medical College, Ludhiana) and Dr (Ms) Sudesh Khanna (Principal, Government Medical College, Amritsar), has suggested constitution of a high-powered committee to take stock of faculty needs and monitor the health of the institutions in the state. It had pointed out "shortcomings" in the methods of education and training and pointed at the process of recruitment of the teaching faculty. Here is a small number of medical teachers who are being denied decent and dignified pay, allowances and service conditions. The parent cadre — PCMS — from which teachers enter the portals of medical and dental colleges is better paid and cared for than the teaching faculty. Enquiries with the faculty and the powers-that-be reveal that "awareness" about the grievances is there. The will to mitigate the same is missing. The committee of five wants a better system of recruitment based solely on merit. It suggest that experts from outside the state screen promotion cases and recommend redesignation of faculty, as per the guidelines issued by the Medical Council of India and creation of medical education unit in each college. To stop the brain-drain, faculty should be paid well, private practice allowed for all clinical teachers after working hours and a share from private patients' earnings in hospitals, etc. To overcome shortage of teaching staff and to attract serious doctors, the retirement age of doctors is recommended to be raised to 65 years. The demands raised by the striking faculty are no different. The doctors told TNS that all they want is "implementation" of the Fourth Punjab Pay Commission recommendations in respect of pay scales as per the UGC recommendations. In addition, certain modifications should be made. In a nutshell the scales sought are as follows: Lecturer (Rs 8,000-11,600; Senior Lecturer Rs 12,000-16,000; Senior Lecturer (selection grade) Rs 14,300-18,300; Reader Rs 14,300-18,300; Senior Reader (Assistant Professor) Rs 16,350-20,000; Professor Rs 18,600-22,100; and Senior Professor Rs 18,499-24,500. The faculty wants redesignation, which is pending since October 1992. As per the MCI guidelines and the Supreme Court decision there have to be only lecturers, readers and professors. The promotional avenues being limited, the pay scales could at least be made time-bound. The faculty wants 25 per cent of the basic pay as non-practising allowance (NPA) as per the Punjab Pay Commission recommendations. There should be no upper ceiling on the NPA and three additional increments as special allowance. Besides an academic allowance, there should be rent-free accommodation which recommendation is pending with the Directorate of Research and Medical Education. In addition there should be a conveyance allowance, conference-attendance allowance; academic leave and better telephone facilities. Given the apathetic condition of the medical and dental colleges and hospitals attached to them and meagre financial allocation and the faculty not paid better, the committee of five wants each of the medical and dental colleges to be given a Rs 15 crore in a lumpsum to tide over the shortage of equipment and teaching aids, etc. Of what use the new
medical and health institutions at Jalandhar and Faridkot
would be if the existing institutions, whose faculty
helped set up several prestigious medical institutions,
have to beg for alms, is anybody's guess. |
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Shahpur project work may go to MNC GURDASPUR, Oct 4 — Uncertainty continues over the handing over of the construction work of the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project to a multi-national company (MNC), or to be taken up at the departmental level by the existing work force operating at Ranjit Sagar Dam, which is likely to be spared within a few months. If the answer of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, to a delegation of Ranjit Sagar Dam employees lead by its INTUC president, Mr Gian Chand Loomba, is any indication, the taking up of the project on the departmental- level is ruled out. When the deputationists impressed upon the Chief Minister last month to start the construction of the project on departmental level, he expressed his helplessness in view of serious resource crunch faced by the state government.Insiders, however, claimed that negotiations with a multi-national company of South Korea were in progress and the agreement to start the construction of the project had almost been arrived and would be taken up after the completion of certain formalities. Moreover, the Punjab Government is avoiding to take up the construction of the project before the completion of Ranjit Sagar Dam. Mr Loomba said the Punjab Government appeared reluctant to take up the project on departmental-level but added that a joint action committee of 21 employees' unions of Ranjit Sagar Dam would resist the taking up of the project by a multi-national company. The employees' leader said the handing over the Shahpur Project to a multi-national company would tantamount to a breach of the faith of the employees of Ranjit Sagar Dam by the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, had on February 8, 1996, declared at a public meeting that the construction of the project would be taken up on departmental-level if the SAD-BJP was voted to power in the assembly elections. So much so, at a high-powered committee meeting chaired by Mr Badal himself last year a decision was taken to study the pros and cons of the possibility of taking up the project in departmental-level. The Chief Minister after the meeting assured the employees that the project would be taken up on departmental-level. Mr Loomba said the taking up the project on the departmental-level was economical in many ways. The government had complete infrastructure in the shape of residential buildings, rest houses, and machinery worth Rs 400 crore which would be spare after the construction of Ranjit Sagar Dam. Mr Loomba said the joint
action committee of Ranjit Sagar Dam employees would meet
shortly to chalk out a plan to force the government to
hand over the construction of the project to the existing
machinery employed at the completion of Ranjit Sagar Dam. |
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Pilgrims throng Chakreshwari fair FATEHGARH SAHIB: Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, Bauza Sharief and Mata Chakreshwari Devi temple, highly respected religious shrines of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus, respectively, are situated here. Two kilometres from here on the Sirhind-Chuni Road lies the Mata Chakreshwari Devi Jain temple. Thousands of Jain pilgrims from all over the country and abroad assemble to pay obeisance as the three-day fair began today. This is the only temple in the country where the idol of Mata Chakreshwari Devi is installed. According to history, once Rajasthan faced severe drought conditions. A large number of devotees of Mata Chakreshwari Devi moved towards Punjab on their bullock-carts. An idol of the Mata was placed in one of the carts. The group stopped near Sirhind for rest. Most of these devotees were Khandelwal Jains. As they set out after a brief rest, the cart containing the idol did not move further despite their best efforts. After some time they heard a voice from above, urging them to let the idol lie there as it was the place for the great Mata. The devotees subsequently built a temple at that spot. Since then not only Jains but people of other faiths also visit this temple. Mata Chakreshwari Devi is supposed to have great powers. The Sikhs also hold this place in great reverence because Diwan Todar Mal Jain, a devotee of the Mata, offered gold coins to cover the land selected for the cremation of the two younger Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh, who were bricked alive at Fatehgarh Sahib. This year more than 25,000 pilgrims are expected to take part in the fair. Mr Krishan Kant Jain, President, and Mr Devinder Nath Jain, General Secretary, of Mata Chakreshwari Devi Jain Tirath, said Raja Narinder Singh, Minister Public Health, Punjab, was to inaugurate the fair and Mr B.C. Jain Bhabhu, President, North India Shree Atma Nand Jain Sabha, would preside over the function. Mr T.R. Sarangal, Deputy Commissioner, will be the guest of honour. Children from various Jain schools of Punjab and Haryana will present cultural programmes. A free medical check-up camp by Vaid Madan Lal Jain of Ropar will also be arranged. The district
administration has made elaborate security arrangements.
According to Deputy Commissioner, Special medical teams,
sanitation staff and facilities of drinking water and
buses had been made. The SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib, has been
deputed as Duty Magistrate. The police will patrol the
area round the clock.
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Minister pays surprise visit GURDASPUR, Oct 4 — Mr Hari Singh Zira, Minister of State for Health, paid a surprise visit to the local Civil Hospital yesterday and found that all the staff was present. Talking to newspersons, he said the cent per cent presence of the medical staff was due to his sustained efforts to improve the health services. Mr Zira said so far he had made surprise visit to 50 hospitals. When he visited the dispensary at Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi, most of the staff was found absent. He said as many as 484 posts of medical officer in the state were lying vacant. He said these vacancies would be filled within three months. He said as a result of checks 100 doctors had been dismissed and another 250 issued notices. The minister said
medicines worth Rs 7.5 crore had been purchased this year
by the Health Department and medicines worth Rs 3.5 crore
by the Health Corporation. A fleet of 29 ambulances would
be handed over to the Health Department at Ludhiana on
October 8. |
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Eggs thrown at "shobha
yatra" FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 4 — The birth anniversary of Maharishi Balmik was celebrated with much enthusiasm here today. The Balmik Sabha, Punjab organised a "shobha yatra" in the district which was flagged off by Mr T.R. Sarangal, Deputy Commissioner. Mr Gurcharan Singh Randhawa, Chairman, Balmik Sabha, Mr Brij Lal, district president, and Mr Palli Ram led the yatra. A tableau depicting the life of Maharishi Balmik was the main attraction. A religious function was held at Balmik Mandir, Sirhind, later where Mr Paramraj Singh Dhaliwal, SSP, presided. All speakers pledged to follow the path shown by Maharishi Balmik. Malerkotla: Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP, Sangrur at a press conference here on Sunday warned those trying to spoil peace in the town and said such elements would not be spared. They were reacting to the incident of throwing of eggs on members of the shobha yatra held by followers of Maharishi Balmik in the town on Saturday. The officers said the administration was investigating into the incident. They appealed to the residents to maintain peace and said more police force had been deplored in the town. The situation became tense when women participating in the "shobha yatra" alleged that eggs had been thrown on them. Angry youths of the Balmiki community beat up some persons because of the incident. The Balmikis have threatened to observe a hartal in the town till the miscreants are brought to the book BATALA: A religious procession was held here on Saturday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maharishi Balmik. The procession begin from Maharishi Balmik Temple, passed through Gandhi Chowk and City Road and terminate at Khazuri Gate. Hundreds of men and women
participated. |
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Probe into gas leak ordered SANGRUR, Oct 4 — Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Anirudh Tewari today ordered a magisterial inquiry into the gas leak incident at the National Agro-Chemical Limited factory here last night which created a panic in the town. Several residents complained of vomiting, chest pain and severe headache. Mr Tiwari said inquiry would be conducted by Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Vikas Partap who would go into all aspects of the incident and try to fix responsibility for the same. He said the inquiry would suggest way and means to ensure such an incident did not occur again. Technical experts and members of the public would be associated with the inquiry. The Deputy Commissioner said the Managing-Director of the factory, Mr Gurpartap Singh Kairon, grandson of former Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon, had been told that the factory would remain closed till the inquiry report was submitted. Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner held a meeting of prominent citizens of the city this morning to allay fears regarding the gas leak. He said it had been reported to him during the meeting that certain irregularities had been committed by the factory owners. The factory was to be shown 7 km from the town when it was not more than a kilometre away. Mr Kairon, however, said the factory had come within the city limits only in 1993 whereas it had been set up in 1987. He said he was still trying to ascertain as to what had happened. "No employee has been affected by the gas leak which should have been the case if a mishap had occurred in the factory premises," Mr Kairon emphasised. Though many in areas away from the factory premises had been affected, there was no gas effect in the factory and adjacent areas. The Association for Democratic Rights held a meeting here today and formed a 40-member committee to look after the concerns of the citizens of the town. The committee, which has been agitating against the setting up of the factory so near the town since 1987, has decided to hold a rally at Pheruman Chowk tomorrow to pressurise the district administration to put its own lock on the factory gates. Association vice-president Hari Singh "Tark" and Swaranjit Singh said if proved that insecticides were being manufactured at the plant, the factory should be immediately shifted from the present site. Most townsmen said they wanted a through inquiry into the incident and an assurance that it would not occur again. Residents pointed out that Gen Gurnam Singh School and Dashmesh Nagar Basti were located right next to the factory. They alleged that the gas leak had affected the entire town and its effect could be felt 5 km away. Hence the leak was possibly from more than a single cylinder of chlorine gas. The leak occurred at 9.15, according to official sources. The Deputy Commissioner said he and district police chief Arpat Shukla were away to Malerkotla at that time but SDM Indu Malhotra and DSP G.S. Aulakh reached the spot immediately and closed the factory. The Deputy Commissioner said he had visited the Civil Hospital where patients were being treated. Though doctors had said
the gas was mainly chlorine, another chemical seemed
mixed with it. This would be verified, he added.
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Buddha Nullah -I LUDHIANA: A channel of sweet, potable water not very long ago, the Buddha Nullah has turned into a stream of misery for hundreds of thousands of people inhabiting nearly two dozen colonies along both banks of the nullah in this mega city of 2.5 million. For the past more than one week, they have been living in virtual hell with water from the overflowing nullah entering their houses and making life difficult for them. Faced with a serious threat of an epidemic, the district authorities have declared a virtual emergency, pressing men and material to drain out water from the affected colonies. But the progress has been slow so far. An unbearable stink pervades the area. People have to wade through thigh-deep water to reach their places of work. Many of the residents have contracted skin diseases. Angry residents have been venting their ire against the administration and the corporation by staging dharnas and holding demonstrations on busy roads. The irate residents complain that the authorities have not properly desilted the nullah before the rainy season and have not properly maintained the sewerage in the localities around the nullah. This has resulted in the blockage of drains causing avoidable floods. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel, says that floods in the Buddha Nullah is not an uncommon occurrence. But this year, it has been caused by a breach in Sirhind canal many kilometre upstream of Ludhiana. The water which inundated the paddy fields was later diverted by the farmers into the nullah which in turn flooded it, causing havoc in Ludhiana. Indiscriminate encroachments and unchecked construction of "pipe bridge" across the nullah have further worsened the situation. The mega city has no sewage treatment plant. The entire untreated domestic and industrial sewerage of Ludhiana empties into Buddha Nullah. The nullah in turn empties into the mighty Sutlej flowing nearby. Hundreds of tonnes of raw sewage from Ludhiana which flows into the Sutlej every day is distributed all over the state through irrigation canals. This polluted water is in turn used for growing food crops, vegetables and fruits and is known to be a carrier of a host of diseases. The nullah which used to be a fresh water channel with about 56 types of fish species prior to 1964, has none now due to the high-level toxicity in the water. Water of hand pumps on either side of the nullah up to a thousand feet is polluted and unfit for human consumption up to a depth of 90 feet. As a matter of fact, underground water up to 100 feet depth in large pockets of Ludhiana has been contaminated by the pollutants discharged indiscriminately by the industries within the city and is now unfit for human consumption. To be continued
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Pak river inundates 16 border
villages FEROZEPORE, Oct 4 — A river in Pakistan which flows near Shameki, a border outpost, has reportedly caused heavy damage to crops in more than 16 villages along the Indo-Pak border. The link road from Hazara Singh Wala and Rajoke Gatti villages has been washed away. Two boats have been given to villagers by the local administration. When this correspondent visited Hazara Singh Wala village yesterday he found certain fields were still submerged under 10 feet of water. Prem Singh, a resident of Rajoke Gatti village, said the fields had been flooded about a fortnight ago. The worst-affected villages include Bhakra, Bhanewala, Jalloke, Chandiwala, Rajoke Gatti, Hazara Singh Wala and Tendiwala. He said a procurement centre was set up at Hazara Singh Wala village where the FCI had procured paddy on September 15. However, farmers took away their produce when they learnt about the floods. As many as 400 bags of paddy were washed away in the flood. Later, the procurement centre was shifted to a place near Hussainiwala Headworks quarters, 3 km away from Hazara Singh Wala village. Talking to The Tribune, the FCI Assistant Grade-III, Mr Sham Singh, however, denied that the bags of paddy had been washed away. He said the procurement centre of Hazara Singh Wala village was set up near Hussainiwala Headworks quarters on September 22 and nearly 4,000 bags of paddy had been procured by the FCI so far. Sucha Singh of Rajoke Gatti village said his paddy crop was washed away. Approximately, paddy in about 250 acres in various villages had been damaged, he claimed, adding that, the villagers had demanded compensation for it. Meanwhile, on directions of the Deputy Commissioner, the ADC (Development), Mr H.L. Kumar, along with officials of the Departments of Canal, Animal Husbandry and Revenue, today visited the flood-affected villages to take stock of the situation and provide medical aid to the cattle. Mr Kumar said orders had
been issued to conduct a special girdawri.
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Cut bureaucracy by 50 per cent: ex-CBI
chief FEROZEPORE, Oct 4 — Mr Joginder Singh, a former CBI Director, has said that keeping in view the sentiments of the residents of Udham Singh Nagar district, the BJP-led government at the Centre should exclude it from the proposed Uttaranchal Pradesh. Talking to mediapersons here today, he said that the Centre should also meet the long-pending demands of Punjab, including river waters and transfer of Chandigarh. To a question, he said the BJP-led government at the Centre was "breathing" on oxygen. But, he was hopeful that the government would complete its full term of five years. Mr Joginder Singh said although no political party wanted elections yet some of them were trying to destabilise the Central Government. These parties should give a chance to the BJP to function freely, he added. Regarding the increasing menace of corruption, he said there was no check on it. And to remove this menace the government should reduce they bureaucracy by 50 per cent as was being done in China. Mr Joginder Singh regretted that about 12 years ago, a new draft of the CBI Act was sent to the Centre for approval but nothing was known about its fate. More powers for the CBI were proposed in the draft, he added. He said, with a view to improving the functioning of the CBI, more powers should be given to its Director and long-term planning should be done. At present the CBI had nearly 3,900 members staff which includes nearly 1,000 Inspectors and DSPs alone, he added, and said, the staff should be increased and strengthened. The former CBI Director said, the Centre's recommendation for the imposition of President's rule in Bihar was "right". But this recommendation could not be accepted because all political parties were not united on the issue. In fact, every political party was trying to encash the issue for vested interests. When asked whether he was
willing to join any political party, he said, the
question would arise only when some party approached him.
However, he would join a pro-nation political party, he
said. |
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Crime
on rise in Majitha police district AMRITSAR, Oct 4 — Murders, quarrels, illicit distillation and other types of crime has been on the rise in the Majitha police district, once infested by terrorists. The Majitha police chief, Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, told mediapersons here today that the police had been able to solve three murder cases. In two cases husbands had been murdered by their wives with the help of paramours. In the third case, a man was killed by his brother and mother over a property dispute. What had intrigued the police was that all the cases went unreported. The police nabbed the brother and mother of Baldev Singh (21), alias Bittu, who was done to death in his native village, Tarsika, under Baba Bakala subdivision over a property dispute on June 21 this year. His body was buried inside the house to destroy evidence. The accused were arrested under Sections 302 and 201. Both had admitted to the crime. Sucha Singh of Wadala Kalan village and Sadhu Singh, a retired sub-inspector, of Battu village, were killed by their wives. In both cases, the bodies were dumped by the wives with the help of paramours and later traced by the police. Both women and their
accomplices had been arrested. They had confessed to the
crime. |
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Declare Amritsar world heritage
city: minister AMRITSAR, Oct 4 — The 421st foundation day of the city was celebrated today. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who had earlier agreed to preside over the function to commemorate the anniversary organised by the Amritsar Vikas Manch, could not come. The Minister for Higher Education, Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, speaking on the occasion demanded that the city should be declared world heritage city and sought the intervention of the state government and the Centre. Describing Amritsar as one of the holiest of the holy places in the world, he said the government was committed to its overall development. Mr Calcutta said a loan of Rs 50 crore was being arranged from the World Bank for expanding the present sewerage system, widening of roads, better water supply and street lights etc. The Mayor, Mr Subhash Sharma, said the involvement of people was necessary for starting a public movement on cleanliness. He felt that people should come forward and to mobilise funds to give the beautification drive a fillip. The manch's president, Mr
Harmohan Singh Bedi, expressed the need for the planned
development of the city.
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Rs
1.31 lakh for fault in tractor FARIDKOT, Oct 4 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Faridkot, has awarded a compensation of over Rs 1.31 lakh to Mr Harnam Singh, son of Mr Baghel Singh, a resident of Beelhewala, on a complaint filed by him against a local tractor corporation along with Punjab Tractors. The forum has also directed the opposite parties to pay an interest of 18 per cent from August 20, 1997, till full payment of compensation besides Rs 1,500 as litigation charges to the complainant. Pronouncing the judgement,
Mr H.I. Garg, president, and Mr S.K. Bhatia, member of
the panel, said, Mr Baghel Singh purchased a tractor from
Supreme Tractors Corporation for more than Rs 2.62 lakh.
However, after plying the tractor for a few months, he
found a defect in the machinery and brought the matter to
the notice of the seller and manufacturer on several
occasions. In spite of the best efforts of the company
engineers, the fault could not be detected. |
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JALANDHAR, Oct 4 (PTI) — The driver of a petrol tanker was killed yesterday when he got trapped inside the empty tank at Suchi village while attempting to repair a blocked valve, police sources said here today. The driver Ajit Singh (27) who was being helped by Baldev Singh lowered himself into the empty tanker in a bid to mend the faulty valve but was trapped in the residual petrol vapours, the sources said. Ajit Singh was resident of
Phagwara. |
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Do
not bow to US pressure on CTBT: Bhatia AMRITSAR, Oct 4 — Mr R.L. Bhatia former Minister of State for External Affairs, has admitted that the USA and his allies were exerting too much pressure on India to sign the CTBT in its form "in spite of our country's loud protests at international fora." He made remarks while talking to The Tribune reporter here yesterday. He said while, India stood for total disarmament, the nuclear powers wanted to maintain a monopoly of these mass destruction weapons with the aim of dominating world affairs. The nuclear-haves were conducting tests even after being signatories to the CTBT. While some were doing test on computer simulations the others in a more brazen way in the deep sea and underground. He was apprehensive about
the intention of the big five. He said if India signed
the treaty these countries would get access to our
nuclear installations. He lauded the statement of Prof
Abdul Kalam who had clearly stated that India possessed
nuclear technology based on "our indigenous research
and not based on foreign known." Mr Bhatia argued
that India should not sign the CTBT which would be
against our oft-repeated stand of it being discriminatory
and prejudicial to our nation's interests. |
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