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| Thursday, February 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Forgotten village proud of Dosanjh SGPC’s plan to recover lands
Review of Constitution must: Badal |
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Warning to BJP on
amendment Amarinder threatens to move court
Musicians rely on family to carry
on tradition Water shortage even in winters Basti awaits community centre Government to set up 354 dental
clinics Councils of WSC autonomous wings
Ultras float private rights panel:
DGP PUDA plans urban estates at
Barnala, Sunam
Probe into tampering with records RPF busts gang of thieves Financier’s arms licence
cancelled Ex-accountant of club arrested Husband held Hardcore terrorist taken to
Gujarat Woman abducted Hijacking accused acquitted
Jaggi is university Registrar Medical teachers strike continues GCG girls make impressive debut Workshop on science coverage ends Board despatches roll numbers Kalha inaugurates public school
CVC to detect heart disease
installed Forum’s directive to finance
company
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8 of
family die in road mishap JASSIBAGHWALI (Bathinda), Feb 23 — Eight persons of a family, including 13-month-old infant, were killed and one severely injured when their car collided with a truck near this village 20 km from here this morning. Sources said that Birinderjit Singh, a resident of Killianwali village, was coming in a car from Ludhiana along with his own brother’s family. The rear tyre of the car got punctured and the driver lost control of the vehicle which hit the truck. The speed of both the vehicles was so high that the car got crushed under the truck. Policemen and some volunteers had to cut open the smashed car to extricate the bodies and the injured. Sources said that five occupants of the car died on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries in a hospital at Dabwali. The bodies were beyond recognition. The only survivor, Harjit Kaur , wife of deceased Birinderjit Singh, has been admitted to a private hospital here. Those who died include Birinderjit Singh, his brother Tekinder Singh, a Canadian citizen, Devan Inder Singh, son of Tekinder Singh, Tanveer Singh son of Birinderjit Singh, Parminder Kaur, her daughter, Harleen Kaur and her infant son Gurpartap Singh and Shawinder Kaur. The Sangat Police has arrested truck driver Avtar Singh after registering a case against him under Sections 304-A, 279, 338 and 427 of the IPC, according to the SSP, Mr Jatinder Kumar Jain, who reached the spot along with other senior police officials. Mr Manvinderjit Singh, an uncle of Birinderjit Singh, expressed shock. Another uncle of Birinderjit Mr Rajinder Singh, fainted on way to the accident spot. A pall of gloom
descended on the village as the news of accident reached
there. People from surrounding areas started pouring in
to express sympathies with the bereaved family. |
SI let Pak
spies go for Rs 500 AMRITSAR, Feb 23 — Caution was thrown to winds and national security was endangered for a paltry sum of Rs 500 (Pakistani currency) at Attari Railway Station by a Sub-Inspector. This was revealed with the arrest of Roop Lal, Sub-Inspector, Immigration, Attari, who pocketed five Pakistani currency notes of 100 denomination each and allowed a Pakistani ‘spy’ to go “scot free”. This has brought to light the chinks in the coordination of sister agencies working at Attari Railway Station. Roop Lal was in charge of immigration counter number nine. One of the two arrested Pakistani nationals, who were carrying top secret documents pertaining to military installations in the country, handed over Rs 500 to the Sub-Inspector. The counter is at platform number two where immigration check of Pakistani nationals is held. According to sources,
one of the Pakistani nationals, who bribed the
Sub-Inspector had visited India many times earlier on
forged passports, hence he knew how to get the
immigration and Customs clearance. |
Forgotten
village proud of Dosanjh DOSANJH KALAN (Jalandhar), Feb 23 — Even as the news of Mr Ujjal Dosanjh’s election as the Premier of British Colombia, has overwhelmed some of his near and dear ones, yet his long presence in Canadian public life and holding of key posts there during the last 30 years has hardly made in any difference to his native village where he had spent most of his youth. His relatives and those who have been close to him before he shifted to England in 1968, fondly discuss Mr Dosanjh’s long struggle in an alien land and take pride in his achievements there. But many others are seemingly not much interested in the Ujjal affair and some of them even criticise him for not bothering to maintain contact with “his people” or to do anything for the development and upliftment of his native village in spite of being capable of doing so. Though he has been paying short visits to this village of and on to inspect his farm, he has never stayed overnight at his village, they said. “But what makes us happy is that someone from our village has achieved a distinction, that too in a foreign country”, said Balwinder Kaur, a middle-aged woman and added “whenever, he comes here he meets almost everyone”. Ms Raksha Laad, another woman, who claimed to have met Mr Dosanjh during his election campaign in Toronto, where she stayed with her children for a couple of months, recalled that the whole of Punjabi community had prayed for Mr Dosangh’s victory in elections. Punjabis from far and wide had swarmed Toronto to participate in Mr Dosanjh’s election rally. “Who is Ujjal Dosanjh?” queried a village fruitseller when The Tribune team asked him about the native village of the British Columbia Premier. The Tribune team was led to the ancestral house of Mr Dosanjh, an old dilapidated house built of “Nanakshahi” bricks in a narrow lane and several enthusiastic women eagerly talked about this village lad who had passed his Matriculation from the village school before migrating to England and later to Canada”. Another house belonging to Mr Ujjal Dosanjh and presently occupied by Mr Gurmeet Ram, an employee of the Punjab Animal Husbandry Department, was also shown to The Tribune team. Mr Surinder Singh, who has taken 20 acres of land belonging to Mr Dosanjh on contract basis, said he was happy to learn that Mr Dosanjh become the “mukh mantri” in Canada. He, however, said Mr Dosanjh “never calls up anybody but inquires about his land in once in a while through letters.” Even the contract amount was collected by Mr Harbans Singh Dosanjh, a cousin of Mr Dosanjh. Mr Gurmeet Ram, led The
Tribune team to the four-room small house, one of which
is still occupied by the Dosanjh family. Mr Gurmeet Ram
said Mr Dosanjh had never charged any rent for the house
in his possession, as it was given to him by Mr Pritam
Singh, the Father of Mr Dosanjh, who died 20 years ago
and was a teacher in the village school. |
SGPC’s
plan to recover lands AMRITSAR, Feb 23 — With its decision to renew efforts to liberate lands and properties worth crores of rupees from the “illegal” occupation of certain religious ‘deras’, kar seva saints and certain sects of ‘Nihangs’, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is already confronted with many controversies, might have to face another major conflict with these sections of the Sikhs. The SGPC Secretary, Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, told this correspondent directions had already been issued to the managers and those in charge of the Sikh shrines and gurdwaras coming under Sections 85 and 87 of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act to compile information and submit it to the secretariat so that the SGPC could act accordingly on the resolution passed a few months back by the SGPC executive after Bibi Jagir Kaur took over as President of this Sikh body. Meanwhile, an SGPC spokesman admitted that despite best efforts in the past during the tenure of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra the body had failed to get back its land and properties from illegal possession as it adopted the method of persuasion and desisted from any conflict. For this purpose a subcommittee of the SGPC was formed to contact the heads of these deras and Nihang Chiefs to resolve these problems but no progress was made as persuasion had no effect on them. As the fight within the SGPC hotted up, this matter took back seat. The matter was taken up again in the executive committee soon after a fresh crisis erupted out of a row between the SGPC President and the Jathedar of Akal Takht over the ‘Nanakshahi’ calendar issue. The executive recommended in a resolution to take steps to renew efforts to get these lands and properties back. The SGPC claimed that the Nihangs of Buddha Dal, headed by the ex-communicated Baba Santa Singh, were in occupation of gurdwara land at places like Damdama Sahib which was the fifth seat of the Sikhs, besides Gurdwara Lakhi Jungle and Guru Sar Muktsar. The phula sect of Nihangs are in occupation of land and Damdama Sahib in Sri Hargobindpur and some other places. The disputed land with certain deras included Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh and Gurdwara Samadan, in the Ramdas area. Certain kar seva saints were also in possession of the gurdwaras even after the completion of the kar seva, the SGPC spokesman added. Meanwhile the SGPC is
making efforts to come to an understanding with a
religious head over the property dispute without going in
for litigation. |
Samjhauta
Express may be cancelled PHILLAUR, Feb 23 — Though the Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry were seriously considering a proposal to cancel the Samjhauta Express after receiving reports of the ISI activities and seizure of fake Indian currency from some passengers of the train, the Railways has not yet received any official instructions or information to cancel this train. This was stated by the Ferozepore Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Mr Narinder Kumar Goyal during his one-day inspection tour here today. He said two companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPF), one each at Jammu-Tawi and Ghagwal, on the Pathankot-Jammu-Tawi rail section had been deputed for track patrolling, after incidents of bomb blast in this section. Describing these incidents as terrorist activities, the DRM said 12 bomb blast incidents had occurred in this section during the past five years. He said though it was the state government’s job to control law and order problems, but the railway gangmen were also busy in patrolling the railway tracks. He said the Railways wanted prosecution powers for the RPF but the Central Government had not yet sanctioned this proposal. He said that a 35 km stretch of railway line between Tarn Taran and Goindwal had been sanctioned. He said the railways had proposed doubling of the railway line between Jalandhar and Jammu-Tawi. The DRM said the train booking would be computerised at Udhampur, Palampur, Jalandhar cantonment and Dhandari Kalan railway stations within six months. He said that the railway was working to convert all 24,500 unmanned railway crossings to manned railway crossings, in a phased manner. DRM Goyal said that due
to public sentiments, the railways would not dismantle
the railway track between Ferozepore and Hussainiwala
instead the Railways would run mela special trains
between Ferozepore and Hussainiwala on March 23, the
martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and
Sukhdev. |
Review of Constitution
must: Badal BARNALA, Feb 23 — A review of the Constitution of India is a must as many articles do not cater to the present needs of country and its citizens since the Constitution was drafted many decades back. The situation calls for making constitutional changes. This was stated by Mr Parkash Singh Badal while addressing a press conference today at Dhilwan village, about 15 km from here, where he had come to listen to public grievances in a ‘sangat darshan’ programme. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr Gobind Singh Longowal, Minister of State for Irrigation, Mr Malkit Singh Keetu, the local MLA, and Mr Balbir Singh Ghunas, MLA from Bhadaur. Mr Badal said the SAD would very shortly finalise its stand officially on the issue of reviewing the Constitution and whether the presidential form of government is suitable to India or not. These issues would first by discussed in the political affairs committee (PAC) of the SAD which would be convened shortly to discuss these issues. The Chief Minister spoke strongly in favour of a true federal system in India where states must enjoy greater financial autonomy and powers. Mr Badal asserted that there was no fiscal or economic crisis in the state. When asked why the Punjab Government had sought information from various departments in the state about surplus land to be auctioned or put on sale, Mr Badal said it had been done to discourage the trend of forcible possession of land by some anti-social elements so that surplus land could be utilised for the benefit of the state. Mr Badal informed that grant-in-aid to tune of 95 per cent offered to the privately-managed government-aided colleges in the state would not be stopped. He made it clear that such rumours has no basis. Mr Badal said a regular Director, Public Instruction (Secondary Education), Punjab, would very shortly be appointed. When asked why the
‘raahdaari’ system in Punjab had not been
abolished even after a declaration publicly to this
effect at a function here on January 19, Badal said he
would get it implemented through an executive order or
through a Cabinet decision. |
Warning to
BJP on amendment FEROZEPORE, Feb 23 — Faridkot District Congress Committee President S.K. Gupta today warned the BJP-led coalition government against any constitutional amendment, seeking to bar people of foreign origin from holding top political positions in the country. Mr Gupta said here that
the proposed amendment was aimed at barring Mrs Sonia
Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister and his party
would not let this happen. Taking a cue from Canada,
where a Punjabi had become a Premier, the BJP should
restrain itself from making any constitutional changes to
this effect”, he added. The proposed amendment had
already generated lot of the heat after Mr P.A. Sangma
was nominated as one of the members of the constitution
review panel. It was in this light that the Congress was
opposing the proposed amendment, as Mr Sangma had
deserted the party, questioning the nationality of Mrs
Sonia Gandhi. |
Amarinder
threatens to move court CHANDIGARH, Feb 23 — The president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Capt Amarinder Singh, said today that if the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr M.S. Gill, did not take action on complaints submitted to him against the ruling party for using "corrupt practices" in Nawanshahr byelection, the Congress would move to the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the commission and the Punjab Government. Saying that the CEC has failed to ensure a fair election in Nawanshahr byelection, the PPCC chief said as many as 21 complaints had been sent to the Election Commission but it did not respond adequately. He was talking to mediapersons here today. There was a large-scale distribution of poppy husk and bottles of liquor and everything was brought to the notice of the observers appointed by the EC but no action was taken. Talking about grants given to almost all villages falling in the jurisdiction of the Nawanshahr constituency, Capt Amarinder Singh said he had seen cheques pertaining to grants to panchayats in January when the poll process had commenced in the constituency. The amount of grants varied from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, he added. But no enquiry had been conducted by the EC, he alleged. Reacting to Dr Gill’s statement that the police would look into the cases of violence in the Nawanshahr constituency, he said no police officer would dare to go against the ruling party and indict its (ruling party) activists. Alleging that Mr Sukhbir Badal, son of the Punjab Chief Minister was present in Palli Jhikki village when violence took place, Capt Amarinder Singh said he had seen Mr Sukhbir returning from the village. Even Mr Sukhbir visited the houses of certain staunch Congress supporters and threatened them of dire consequences if they did not support the Akali candidate, he alleged further. The PCC chief said he had shown the bullet marks on the Congress party camp office to a Superintendent of Police in a village, but the police officer preferred to register a case against Congress activists and did not take any action against Akali leaders who fired shots and assaulted Congress workers. If at this stage Dr Gill
would not take action, he said, Punjab was bound to turn
another Bihar in the coming years as far as violence in
elections was concerned. |
Conference on human
settlements ends AMRITSAR, Feb 23 — Prof S.L. Sharma of Panjab University, Chandigarh, while delivering his valedictory address at the valedictory session of the international conference on human settlements said there was a need to analyse urban, ecological, egalitarian and technological sensitivities to have futuristic perspective for human settlements in the 21st century. The international conference on “Habitat Agenda and Human Settlements in South and Southeast Asia in 21 century” was organised by the Forum of Researchers on Human Settlements, Rome, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Dr Ram Barot, Mayor of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, presided over the session. Professor Sharma opined that the role of information technology in the 21st century would determine the type and nature of human settlements. Earlier in the session on social segregation, Prof K.T. Silva from the University of Peradenia, Sri Lanka, focussed his discussion on the process of migration as result of ethnic conflict in the island. He pointed out that many Tamilians who migrated to Colombo were being discriminated against and the present war was reinforcing ethnic discrimination. Dr Kulwant Singh of HSMI, New Delhi, pointed out various flaws in governmental schemes for the urban poor and slum dwellers. Prof Ayse Gedik of Middle East Technological University, Ankara (Turkey), differentiated the process of migration in Turkey and Japan. She pointed out the significance of urban to urban migration over the rural to urban migration. Prof S.K. Chandhoke, Dr
Ravinder Kaur, Dr Sarita Kamra, Prof R. Shanker, Prof
Buggi, Miss Saraswati Haider, Dr Manjit Singh, Prof R.N.
Sharma, Prof G. Karunanithi, Prof M. Muttiah, Dr Marisa
Choguill and Binddo Duggal also presented their papers. |
Musicians
rely on family to carry on tradition PATIALA, Feb 23 — Singing folk songs is like second nature to eight-year-old Amar. They would be so as he is constantly by the side of his father Murli Rajasthani giving ‘’saath’’ on a ‘pathri’. Murli learned the art of singing folk songs and ballads from his father. So did numerous other folk artistes who came here to take part in the fourth Punjabi Folk Music Festival held at the Punjabi University campus. Murli and many others like him are now giving away the heritage bestowed upon them to their children. Folk musicians detest passing on their skills to others than their immediate relatives . Most teach their sons to carry on their torch with outsiders learning the art after much sacrifice only. Veteran musician Baba Saudagar, who has made a name for himself as a master ballad singer and toomba player, while talking to TNS said; “After coming to India from Pakistan, I came under the tutelage of Fauja Sansi.After becoming his disciple I lived in his house for four years. I was mainly engaged in grazing the sheep of my guru who tought me couplets which I memorised in between.” Saudagar did likewise when it was his turn to become a guru. One of his most famous disciples probably worked the longest. Jagat Ram Lalka grazed and looked after Saudagar’s cattle for six years before he learnt the art and made a name for himself. Artistes disclosed that gurus did not easily give away their art unless one made the requisite sacrifice. However, it is easier for sons and close relatives to learn and master the art of their fathers. This is because they are able to imbibe the art through constant companionship with their fathers from a tender age. Also, it becomes the responsibility of the father to teach his art to his son as their nature of work and social status ensures that the youngsters do not get any education worth the name. The children on many occasions form a group to earn a living . The noted four-member Kavishar group of Master Bhimji comprises four brothers. Ninety-year-old Pokhar Singh, while talking to TNS, said he learnt the art of Jhumar from his paternal uncle in Pakistan and then carried on the tradition in his family after shifting to Jhottianwala village in Ferozepore district. He said today his three generations were proficient in Jhumar and he had formed a team consisting of his sons, grandsons and relatives.The gift has not been learnt by others in the village. While passing on the folk art from father to sons has preserved its purity, there is also a danger of the art becoming extinct with sons not learning the trade due to no demand for folk artistes at present . This is true in the case of the family of Pokhar Singh which is relatively well settled and takes to Jhumar only as a hobby. Theatre personality Yogesh Gambhir said there should be attempts to propagate folk art at a larger level by giving it government patronage as well as having more cultural exchanges which would benefit the artistes and make the demand of the art more broad-based. The final day of the
folk festival witnessed the gurus showing their mettle at
a unique folk orchestra led on the flute by Baba
Kashinath. Later, the veteran artistes, including Baba
Saudagar, Baba Kashinath, Pokhar Singh, Eedu Sharif , Des
Raj Lachkani, Charan Singh Dayalpuria, Noorideen,
Mahender Singh Mander, Nuaratta Ram and Dilbar Singh were
awarded medals and shawls by university Vice-Chancellor
Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia astride a traditional
“gadda” which had been brought onto the stage. |
Water
shortage even in winters BATHINDA, Feb 23 — Even as summer is yet to start, residents of various localities of this town are already facing shortage of potable water. Official sources said the Punjab Water Supply Sewerage Board authorities had been finding it difficult to cover this fast developing town with the potable water supply due to paucity of funds. Also, the existing underground water supply pipes were in bad shape and burst frequently. For the past three weeks, residents of Dhibber Colony, Suraj Basti, Ganesha Basti, parts of Nai Basti and Aggarwal colony, Minocha Colony and some parts of Ajit Road and Birla Mill Localities, have not been getting any tap water supply. In the absence of potable water supply, the residents are forced to use the underground water which has been declared unfit for human consumption due to presence of high fluoride contents. While some of the residents of these localities, who are well off, are purchasing their daily requirements from mineral water suppliers, the situation is hard for the poor ones as they then become prone to water-borne diseases due to consumption of this untreated water. Official sources said that water supply to some of the localities of this town was disturbed due to closure of the Bathinda canal from where the water was being drawn for supplying it to residents after treatment. Mr Mohan Lal, SDO, local Punjab Water Supply Sewerage Board office, when contacted, said a few days back, an underground water pipe had burst on the Bathinda-Goniana road where the sewerage pipes were being laid. He added that the pipe was being repaired and the water supply would be restored in a day or so. Sources said that in few
localities of the town which had developed some 40 years
ago, the water supply pipes had not been yet laid. The
authorities concerned had so far covered only 40 per cent
population of the town with potable water. However, the
potable water was not supplied in adequate quantity even
to this section of population. |
Basti
awaits community centre PATIALA, Feb 23 — A foundation stone announcing construction of a well-equipped and spacious community centre in Baba Jeewan Singh Basti, a slum colony on Passey Road here, still stares in the face of the dwellers. The stone was laid almost two years ago. While the slum-dwellers were running from pillar to post for getting a scheme of such a hall for the slums, now they are struggling hard for its execution. The latest step of the municipal corporation to call tenders for the construction of only one room instead of the community centre which consists of one big hall and two or three other rooms has only added insult to the injury. Slum-dwellers contend that the idea for constructing a community centre was to have a sewing school, small dispensary and space for organisation of marriages or other social functions. All that is not possible in one room. It was in April, 1998, that Mr Jagtar Singh Rajla, MLA, Shiromani Akali Dal, had laid the foundation stone of the centre, according to Mrs Surinder Kaur, President of the Colonies Welfare Association. They were promised that within weeks the community centre would come up. She said it was after years that such a scheme for the colony had been passed. “Though we were told that the requisite amount has been allocated to the municipal corporation, for two years no work started,” she said. The President said whenever they approached the government or the corporation officials they were curtly told that the colony was not authorised and was constructed illegally on a government land. She wondered how the government had given voting rights and ration cards to the residents if they were living in an illegal colony. According to her, infighting between the Badal and Tohra camp of the Akalis may also have caused the delay. Mr Jagtar Singh Rajla, who is reportedly protege of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, had crossed swords with the Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government. In such circumstances, completion of any work announced by a Tohra MLA would not have gone down in favour of the ruling group. The theory of the delay due to political infighting gains credence from the fact that Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, visited the Basti just few weeks ago. Mr K.S. Kung, Commissioner, MC, said development projects cannot be carried out in an unauthorised colony due to which the community centre project was being delayed. He said while an allocation of funds for the centre was announced two years ago, the corporation had only recently received Rs 50,000. Mr J.S. Goel, Assistant
Commissioner, said they had invited tenders for one room
only as a community centre cannot be constructed in Rs
50,000. |
Government
to set up 354 dental clinics PHILLAUR, Feb 23 — The Punjab Government has decided to set up 354 dental clinics in rural areas having a population of 30,000 in a phased manner, to provide better treatment to the villagers. This was stated by the
Punjab Health Minister, Dr Baldev Chawla, while talking
to mediapersons here today. He said the government was
committed to provide better health care services in rural
areas where 75 per cent population of the state was
residing. Dr Chawla said at present 100 dentists out of
the total 2,300 registered doctors were found practicing
in rural areas of the state. Dr Chawla said a regional
workshop will be organised on February 25 and 26 at
Chandigarh. |
Lectures
on biotechnology CHANDIGARH, Feb 23 — Popular biotechnology lectures by eminent scientists are being organised by the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology on February 24 at Government College of Education, Sector 20. A spokesman of the council said today the availability of new bio-technological tools for manufacture of useful products and production of microbes, plants and animals with improved qualities had opened up new opportunities for better products and processes. The exploitation of these tools for maximum social and economic development would, however, depend to a great extent on changing the attitudes of a wide spectrum of population. As the pace of
advancements in biological sciences was posing a major
challenge to the students, the three proposed lectures
will be on biological nitrogen fixation by Dr B.D.
Kaushik, Professor and Coordinator, IARI, New Delhi;
Biological control of pests by Dr Manider Shenhmar,
Associate Professor, PAU, Ludhiana and Large scale
production of biologicals by Dr S.S. Marwaha, Director
(Biotechnology), PSCSI, Chandigarh. |
IHRO
concerned over seminar ban LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — The International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO) today expressed surprise over a ban imposed by a former Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Puran Singh against holding of a seminar by the World Sikh Council on the proposed Nanakshahi Calendar by the SGPC and described it as a retrograde step. The Governing Council of the organisation at its meeting held yesterday, while deliberating on the ban imposed on the seminar to be held at Jalandhar, decided to hold a seminar on “Akal Takht and the Khalsa Panth” here on April 9, in which beside others former Akal Takht Jathedars would be invited. The Chairperson of the
organisation, Mr D.S. Gill, in a statement issued here
today, said the seminar would focus on the appointment,
functioning and removal of Akal Takht Jathedar besides
acknowledging its supremacy in the religio-political
affairs of the Khalsa panth. |
Councils
of WSC autonomous wings CHANDIGARH, Feb 23 — The working general secretary of the World Sikh Council (WSC), Major Gen Narinder Singh (retd), said here today that the regional councils were functioning as independent and autonomous wings of the WSC. These units were free to organise a seminar towards achieving the objectives of the WSC. It was not necessary for the regional councils to seek the permission of the WSC in this regard. He made the statement in the wake of the decision of the Amritsar regional council to hold a seminar on "Sikh traditions and the maryada of Akal Takht" on March 4 at Jalandhar. Earlier the WSC had
decided to hold a seminar on Nanakshahi calendar on
February 27 at Jalandhar but it was postponed in the
larger interest of the Sikh Panth, he added. |
Ultras float private
rights panel: DGP BATHINDA, Feb 23 —Mr A.P. Bhatnagar, Additional DGP, Punjab State Human Rights Commission, today said that some elements working for the terrorist organisations and forces inimical to the country had floated their own private human rights forums to carry out their illegal activities without hinderance. Mr Bhatnagar, who was here today to preside over the concluding ceremony of Indo-British porgramme on “Child rights and child protection in Punjab”, said that such human rights forum were working with ulterior motives. On one hand they were exploiting the public sentiments and on the other hand they were carrying out their illegal activities. He said many such instances had come to his notice. But the Punjab State Human Rights Commission had nothing to do with such human rights forum, he added. He pointed out that though respect of human rights had become mandatory in police training, there was still no improvement in this regard. He further said that majority of the complaints which the commission had been receiving, were against the police misbehaviour and malfunctioning. He informed that recently a workshop was held at Phillaur Police Training College in which experts from the developing countries participated. The main stress was on respect of human rights in this workshop. Regarding the child rights and child protection, he said public education programmes had been held in 12 districts of the state. In these programmes, children and their parents and other volunteers of non-governmental organisations had been given training about the rights and duties of children and their protection. He added that under this programme, people would be motivated to arrange for education, games and a dignified way of life for those children who belonged to the poor section of society. He said that this programme would be made into movement without the participation of government agencies. He added that child help lines would also be set up. Mr Gurpreet Singh
Kangar, one of the trainers of this programme, said
arrangements would be made to organise this public
education programme at village level. |
PUDA
plans urban estates at Barnala, Sunam CHANDIGARH, Feb 23 — A comprehensive scheme to utilise vacant government land in Sangrur has been chalked out by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). A PUDA spokesman said the plan had been prepared on the directives of the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Mr S. Ranjit Singh Balian. Under an old fort in the heart of Sangrur town would be developed into an ultra modern commercial shopping centre. A new building for the girls senior secondary school was on the anvil. He spoke about the
possibility of PUDA developing an urban estate at Sangrur
after inviting comments from the public. The zila
parishad of Sangrur and PUDA were entering into a joint
venture to develop seven acres of land belonging to the
former. PUDA was also exploring the possibility of
developing urban estates at Barnala, Malerkotla and
Sunam. |
Probe into tampering with
records NANGAL, Feb 23 — The National Festilizers Limited (NFL) authorities have ordered an inquiry into the tampering with service records and producing of fake certificates at the time to recruitments by certain employees here. According to sources available, the Enforcement Department and the NFL administration has ordered the local authorities for the scrutiny of the services records of all 2,500 employees here to locate fake certificates. The ED has ordered the inquiry after complaints were made in this connection to the vigilance department of the NFL. The case of tampering with service records came to light when the NFL management forcibly retired the Principal of Fertiliser Senior Secondary School being run by the local management. Mr Gurbachan Singh, Principal of the school, was retired in spite of the fact that according to his matriculation certificate he still had two years of service. Moreover, no reason had been mentioned. However, according to the sources the Principal was retired because according to the initial entry in his service book his date of birth was March 17, 1937. It was later changed to March 17,1942, which according to the Principal, was done as per the decision of the Punjab University syndicate to rectify his date of birth in the matriculation certificate. Mr R.D. Gehrana, Manager, P&A when asked said the change in the date of birth was tempered. He said in the NFL there was a procedure to change the date of birth entered initially in the service book. In the case of the Principal no such procedure had been followed and any authority had not endorsed the change. The Principal in a
letter to the General Manager, Mr B.M. Ritolia, has,
however, stated his forcible retirement to be illegal,
arbitrary and unilateral. He has also stated that his
retirement was premature. |
RPF busts
gang of thieves LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — The Railway Police has busted a gang of thieves with the arrest of five youths, Gopal, Rambahadur, Ravi Lal, alias Raju, Kamal and Shiva, here yesterday. The police has recovered seven acrylic carpets, a consignment of woollens worth several lakhs and several yards of cloth which the gang had stolen from various trains during the past few days. Mr R.K. Tyagi, Inspector, RPF said: “The five youths were arrested from the city after we received information that they were selling the stolen wares in various markets.” Talking about the modus operandi of the thieves, he said Ravi Lal, alias Raju, was the kingpin and had formed the gang here after being involved with a gang in Delhi. Ravi Lal told this correspondent that the gang operated in groups of five or six. All members would buy tickets for travelling in the train and occupy seats in a compartment next to the sleeper compartment. While the other four members would obstruct the way to the entrance, he would enter the sleeper compartment and after breaking open the seal would throw out packets of material. According to Mr Tyagi,
the suspects had stolen the carpets on the intervening
night of February 2 and 3 and thrown these near Goraya.
The consignment of sweaters and other woollens were
thrown out of a train on February 16 near Sahnewal while
the consignment of cloth was stolen almost five days ago. |
Financier’s
arms licence cancelled LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — The arms licence of a financier, Mr Jaswinder Singh Jassi, operating in the Vishal Nagar area, has been cancelled by the administration, following protests by the residents there who accused him of terrorising them. Meanwhile, in a
statement issued to the press here today, the councillor
of the area, Giani Baldev Singh, has alleged that there
has been a concerted move by “certain disgruntled
politicians who were not residing in the area” to
spoil the peace in the area by fuelling tension between
two groups of people, who were at loggerheads with each
other. Ex-accountant of club arrested LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — A former accountant of the Lodhi Club has been arrested by the police on charges of misappropriation and embezzlement of funds worth lakhs of rupees. The former clerk, Mr Mohinder Pal Joshi, has been arrested under Sections 379, 380, 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 477-A of the IPC, allegedly for misappropriation of funds meant for the construction of the building of the club. In an official press
release of the club, it was informed that the Deputy
Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel had constituted an inquiry
committee headed by the general secretary of the club,
Capt Anil K. Verma, which found several irregularities in
the accounts. |
Husband
held GARHSHANKAR, Feb 23 — Jagdish Singh of Kalewal Lallian village has been arrested in connection with an incident in which his wife, Jagdish Kaur, sustained burns. According to information, Jagdish Singh’s wife give birth to a son a few days ago. On the occasion, his brother presented a ring to them. This led to the incident. A case has been registered under Section 307, IPC, in this connection. Jagdish Kaur has been
admitted to the Civil Hospital here. |
Hardcore terrorist taken to Gujarat GURDASPUR, Feb 23 (UNI) — A hardcore Babbar Khalsa terrorist, of eighties, who was arrested last month, was today taken away for interrogation by the Gujarat Police as he is wanted in a case of waging war against the state, there. The SSP, Mr Varinder Kumar, said today that Sarup Singh, a link between terrorists based at home and abroad, was taken away by Ahmedabad police on the basis of production warrant and transit remand from a court on the charge of having supplied explosives to a group of five terrorists who were arrested by Ahmedabad police with the assistance of Punjab police on January 20. Ahmedabad police had registered a case under Sections 121 (waging war against the government), 122 (collecting arms to wage war), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 212 (harbouring offender) of the IPC and Sections 25/54/59 of the Arms Act. The police here had recovered 6 kg of RDX, two hand grenades, one pistol, four detonators, one sophisticated timer from Sarup Singh when he was intercepted in a car near Madhopur on the Punjab and J&K border, on January 20. Woman abducted LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — A 24-year-old woman, Rajni, was abducted from near the bus stand here on the morning of February 20. According to an FIR
registered under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC, the
mother of the girl, Saraswati, has alleged that Rajni was
abducted by four boys, who were travelling in a car. The
girl was a rag-picker. |
Hijacking
accused acquitted AMRITSAR, Feb 23 — A Delhi court has acquitted Satnam Singh Paonta, one of the five accused in the 1981 hijacking case of the Delhi-Srinagar bound Indian Airlines plane (IC 423), as he had already undergone a life term in Pakistan. Acquitting him the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ms Sangita Sehgal Dhingra, observed that “Satnam Singh has served life imprisonment in Pakistan. Even otherwise, the hijacking occurred 19 years ago and the police had said that Satnam Singh was not required in the case any more.” Giving details of the court’s decision to the media here, Dal Khalsa chief spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said: “This case was a litmus test for the Indian judiciary, as no person could be tried twice for the same offence.” He said that it was their faith in the judiciary that they preferred to produce Satnam Singh in the court after his return to India. Satnam Singh was one of the five Dal Khalsa men who hijacked the Indian Airlines plane on September 29, 1981, to protest against the arrest of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale in connection with the Lala Jagat Narain murder case. Satnam Singh is Vice-President of the Dal Khalsa which staged a political comeback in the state two years ago after the ban imposed on it lapsed. Besides Satnam Singh,
others who hijacked the plane were Gajinder Singh, who is
reportedly camping in Pakistan, Jasbir Singh and Karan
Singh, who are in Switzerland, and Tejinder Pal Singh,
presently staying in Chandigarh after he was deported
back to India from Canada in 1997 |
Jaggi is university
Registrar PATIALA, Feb, 23 — Government College for Girls’s Principal Gursharan Kaur Jaggi was today appointed the first woman Registrar of Punjabi University. A decision to this effect was taken at a Syndicate meeting held here today by a committee consisting of Vice-Chancellor Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, G.P.S. Sahi, Mr Manpreet Singh Badal and Mr Surjit Singh Rakhra. In a statement here, the university Vice-Chancellor, Dr Ahluwalia, said that Dr Jaggi fulfilled the conditions and qualifications laid down by the UGC for the post of the university Registrar. Earlier, Dr Ranbir Singh Sarao, Registrar, whose term ends on February 24, withdraw his application for extension. The syndicate also approved the grant of Ph.D. degrees notified till February 20, 2000. The proposal for the upgradation of the facilities at the university computer centre involving an expenditure of about Rs 3 crore was approved for sending to the UGC. The Syndicate has also decided to activate the Audio-Visual Research Centre at the university campus. By another decision the Syndicate revised the rules regarding re-evaluation. Earlier in case of difference of over 10 per cent in the evaluation and re-evaluation, the case was referred to the third examiner and the average of the two closest awards was taken into consideration, but as per the new rules the average of the highest two awards will be taken into consideration. This decision will remove the long-standing grievance of the student community. The Syndicate approved
the selections against various teaching posts in
different departments of the university. |
Medical
teachers strike continues PATIALA, Feb 23 — Medical and dental teachers here who are on strike since February 10, demanding arrears of revised pay scales today staged a rally in front of the office of the Principal, Government Medical College here. Dr Ravinder Singh, Secretary, Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association, said as the government had not been budged from its ‘stubborn’ attitude vis-a-vis the teachers demand, the association had decided to close the OPD work again in Government Rajindra Hospital and Dental College here on March 1 and 2. He said the association had earlier closed the OPD work on February 18 and 19 for two day only, keeping in mind public inconvenience, but as no effort had been made by the government to defuse the crisis, the association had been forced to repeat the act for two days more. The rally staged for an hour was well-attended. Various leaders addressed the rally condemned the stance of the government towards releasing the arrears. The speakers said it was the the right of the teachers to demand arrears or new pay scales in lieu of service done by them. Meanwhile, in a separate
release, Dr O.P.S. Kande, President, State unit of the
Indian Medical Association has supported the on-going
strike by the medical and dental teachers. In a
representation to the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh
Badal, Dr Kande urged him to intervene in the matter as
not only the patients but students were also suffering
from the strike. |
GCG girls
make impressive debut PATIALA, Feb 23 — Students of Government College for Girls, Patiala, made their debut at a group exhibition of paintings put up by the North Zone Cultural Centre at Banasar Art Gallery, Sheesh Mahal, here today. The girls have put up an interesting display of colourful and meaningful paintings. All done in oil. Talking to this correspondent, young artists said their teachers had played a major role in helping them display their work. They were told to paint whatever came to their minds. Most paintings were, thus, revelations of the artists’ minds. Some paintings, however, were relevant to the postgraduate fine arts syllabus. The theme “wait”, for instance, has been depicted in four different styles, each laying out a different picture altogether. The exhibition included abstract art, imaginary scenes reflecting the artists’ feelings and portraits as well. Mrs Pasricha, head of the Fine Art Department, GCG, Patiala, who was present there with all the lecturers from the department, said the students had worked hard for their debut. Apart from the paintings
some sculptures done in Kashmiri art. The exhibition was
inaugurated by Dr Gursharan Kaur Jaggi, Principal,
Government College for Girls, Patiala. As many as 23
artists took part in this exhibition, and two paintings
by each were on display. The exhibition will continue
till February 29. |
Workshop
on science coverage ends PATIALA, Feb 23 — The three-day workshop on “Training of science communicators for enhancing science coverage in mass media” at Punjabi University concluded here today. The workshop was organised jointly by the Department of Punjabi Language Development of the university and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST). Ms Baljeet Kaur, convener, said that the main aim of the workshop was to identify and encourage potential writers and provide them training to develop the skills for science writing. The workshop was divided into six technical sessions in which details for writing science articles for mass media were provided by Mr R.D. Rikhari from the NRDC, New Delhi, Dr R.K. Sahai from the CSIR, New Delhi, Prof Narinder Singh Kapoor and Dr Navjit Singh Johal from the Department of Journalism, and Dr D.P. Singh from Shivalik College, Naya Nangal. The valedictory function
included an address by Dr Neelam Gulati Sharma and
distribution of certificates among participants. |
Board
despatches roll numbers SAS NAGAR, Feb 23 — The Punjab School Education Board has despatched roll numbers of the candidates appearing in the middle standard examination of the board beginning on March 1. A spokesman of the board said if any candidate did not receive the roll number, a duplicate roll number could be procured from the textbook sales depot of the board concerned by showing the fee receipt and other relevant documents. A control room to sort out problems relating to the conduct of the examination had been set up at the board complex here . The control room would function from February 26 to March 11 from 7 a.m to 8 p.m. The following are the telephone numbers on which enquiry could be made: 670596 and PBX 670593, 670605, 670698, 670614 — extension 234. The candidates of
Nawanshahr could contact the textbook sales depot at
Phagwara for duplicate roll numbers, the spokesman added. |
Kalha
inaugurates public school PATIALA, Feb 23 — Mr D.S. Kalha, Commissioner, Patiala Division, while inaugurating Naraian Public School here today, stressed the need for educational institution with modern facilities so that they might become advanced in this age of competition. He lauded the efforts made by Naraian Public School in providing such modern facilities. The Director of the school, Mr Avtar Singh Arora, listed the facilities available in the school and said that efforts would be made to make allround development of the students. Mr Jasbir Singh Bir,
Deputy Commissioner, and Mr K.S. Kang, Commissioner,
Municipal Corpo-ration, also attended the function. |
CVC to detect heart
disease installed LUDHIANA, Feb 23 — India’s seventh cardiovascular cardiographic imaging system (CVC) has been installed at a private medical centre here. This new non-invasive technique to detect coronary heart disease in the form of realistic geometric cartographic imaging (RGCI) brings a new diagnostic advantage for patients experiencing chest pain for complete evaluation. It will help doctors monitor and diagnose heart problems at an early stage making timely preventive treatment possible. The RGCI is an advanced technique based on 3 D mathematical modelling and simulation that accurately informs of the probable location and severity of flow-limiting lesions in heart’s blood vessels and its oxygen demand/supply with the help of measurement of the heart-muscle blood flow. This equipment works on the principles of integration of time-related physiological curves derived out of transthoracic bioimpedance, electrocardiography and subsonic thoracis transverse waves to detect various cardiac parameters relating to pressure, volume, time and flow. A team of experts from Delhi, Bangalore and Mysore visited the city and addressed leading cardiologists and physicians at Sibia Heart Centre. Dr L.S. Chawla, founder Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, was the chief guest. Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chairman of the Centre For Artificial Intelligence and Non-Linear Studies, Bangalore, and co-inventor of the RGCI, explained that doctors prefer to gain maximum accurate information about the cardiovascular system non-invasively. In invasive techniques, catheters have to be inserted to know the status of coronary vessels and risks of injury, rupture, infection and radiation always exist. If the doctors get accurate data about heart functions without inserting any equipment, it would minimise the risk and simplify the process. This new technique does exactly that and could be repeated any number of times without any harm. The new non-invasive system uses skin electrodes and sensors that acquire and monitor the data in just 30 minutes. The RGCI is providing continuous and accurated data about any changes in haemodynamics such as the heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and 24 other parameters. Dr G.N. Shirbur, a leading cardiologist from Simha Heart Foundation, Mysore, added that the RGCI was the only technique that took into consideration up to 24 parameters and could be applied on a patient ensuring total safety and no pain or difficulty. This highly sensitive and accurate test detects flow-limiting lesions even as little as 20 per cent with over 90 per cent accracy while other existing tests like angiography detect only above 40 per cent. This sensitivity helps early detection, prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease which kills almost eight lakh Indians every year that is about 90 Indians every hour and more than three million worldwide. For the undiagnosed victims, delay can be costly or even fatal. Dr O.P. Aggarwal, a
senior cardiologist from Bareilly who has been using the
RGCI for a long time, said it was the only
investigational tool in the field of cardiology which did
not have any difference of opinion about it among medical
practitioners. He added that all pre-operative patients
must undergo the RGCI which took only 60 seconds to
evaluate the safety of anaesthesia and surgery in a
patient. |
Forum’s
directive to finance company SUNDERNAGAR, Feb 23 — The zonal Bench of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mandi, headed by its President Mr T.N. Vaidya, today passed an order in favour of all 24 complainants, who have deposited their amount with different branches of Himachal Gramin Sanchyika located at Sundernagar, Ner Chowk and Mandi. All 24 complainants had filed individual complaints against Himachal Gramin Sanchyika and made Mr S.P. Saklani, M.D, of the finance company a respondent. The consumers alleged that the company had opened its branches in Mandi district lured the consumers into a trap that they would be given higher rates of interest than any nationalised bank. But soon after the consumers deposited the amount, the company closed business and locked its branches in the district. Some of consumers, who had submitted their documents after the date of maturity were denied payments by the company. The forum after hearing
both parties has ordered that the company should return
Rs 3 lakh to the consumers along with 15 per cent
interest per annum on it. It further allowed a
compensation of Rs 1000 and the cost of complaint as Rs
500 to each consumer in all 24 cases. |
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