 |
|
| Monday, March 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Talwandi meets Giani Puran Singh 6
killed, 25 hurt in bus accident Mobile
help for mishap victims New
sight likely for mental hospital |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ramoowalia
accuses Badal of doublespeak
Denial
of jobs to terrorist-hit criticised Requests
for NOCs pile up Canal
waters’ theft irks farmers Govt
to lay stress on industrialisation All-pervading
Holi spirit Corporation
staff allege victimisation Petrol
dealers not to supply fuel to Police Dept IMA
refutes Civil Surgeon’s statement 'Budget
proposals will result in price hike'
Registration
of documents computerised
“Abducted
girl” recovered
Historian
emphasises role of masses
FCI
staff call off stir Rice
millers’ plea to govt agencies Liquor
vends’ auction fetches Rs 2 cr
|
Talwandi meets Giani Puran Singh AMRITSAR, March 19 — The Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Puran Singh remained unmoved over the issue of acceding to the request of Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi to let Bibi Jagir Kaur appear before the Akal Takht as soon as possible. The Chairman of Disciplinary Committee of the SAD and confidant of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who met the Jathedar at his residence for over 30 minutes this evening to break the impasse but failed in his mission to mollify the agitated Giani Puran Singh who had felt aggrieved over the reported defiance of his ‘hukamnama’ by the excommunicated SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and two Jathedars, Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh. According to informed sources, who also participated in the meeting told The Tribune that Mr Talwandi had been especially sent by the SAD chief, Mr Badal carrying his message and the directions issued by the Political Affairs Committee meeting held at Chandigarh today that Bibi Jagir Kaur had been directed to appear at Akal Takht unconditionally. Seeking forgiveness for defying the ban on the implementation of the Nanakshahi calendar. Mr Talwandi also conveyed to the Jathedar that the two excommunicated Jathedars, Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Puran Singh too would not perform any religious duties and would not participate in the Hola Mohalla celebrations at Anandpur Sahib. Confidants of the Jathedar added that Mr Talwandi arrived here around 5 p.m. and waited for Jathedar at his residence as Giani Puran Singh was at the Golden Temple performing his duty as head granthi. The mission assigned by Mr Badal to Mr Talwandi seems to have no impact on Giani Puran Singh, who had maintained that he will accept the request of Bibi Jagir Kaur at an appropriate time but did indicate the time frame. It is reliably learnt that Giani Puran Singh had taken this strong posture that a number of both self-styled emissaries have been camping here and putting pressure on the Jathedar to soften his stand on Bibi Jagir Kaur and allow the present ‘Panthic’ crisis to blow over in the larger interest of the Sikh community. On the other hand Giani Puran Singh has ignored all such overtures and was sticking to his stand that Bibi Jagir Kaur will have to apply for her unconditional appearance as a humble Sikh and only then he would consider her request to invite her but not immediately. This step would scuttle the move for Bibi Jagir Kaur to participate in the ongoing Hola Mohalla celebrations. The inner circles of the Jathedar also indicated by Giani Puran Singh may lead the Hola Mohalla nagar kirtan on March 21 at Anandpur Sahib as the other two Jathedars of Takht Keshgarh Sahib Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh, Jathedar Takht Damdama Sahib were unlikely to participate in the celebrations as both of them had been excommunicated. Hectic parleys by large number of emissaries of Mr Badal including SAD Delhi chief Mr Avtar Singh Hit, the former Director of Health Services, Dr Puran Singh Jassi, Baba Kashmira Singh head of Gurmat Sant Sidhant Samaj, Dr Gurbachan Singh and other have failed to cut any ice with the Jathedar who was unrelenting and conveyed his unequivocal stand that Bibi Jagir Kaur have to present herself without any pre-condition and seek apology. The stand-off persists
and the crisis in the Akali party continues with Mr Badal
once again been pushed to the corner by first the
unrelenting Bibi Jagir Kaur and now the Jathedar Akal
Takht Giani Puran Singh. |
6 killed, 25 hurt in bus accident KAPURTHALA, March 19 (UNI) — Six persons, including a child and two women, were killed and 25 others injured in a head-on-collision between two buses near Hamira village on G T Road, 15 km from here this morning. According to police the accident occurred when a Jalandhar bound bus of Punjab Roadways coming from Amritsar collided with a Pepsu Roadways bus coming from Jalandhar. Two women died at Guru Nanak Hospital at Amritsar while a child died in Sacred Heart Hospital at Maqsoodan near Jalandhar. The injured which include men, women and children were taken to hospitals at Amritsar, Beas, Jalandhar. The accident took place
due to rash driving and the buses collided with such
great force that its thud could be heard far away. |
Mobile help for mishap victims SANGRUR, March 19 — Mobile help will be on the way to accident victims in distress on Highways as well as ruralites requiring emergency attention from today with the establishment of Aid and Ambulance Service for Traffic on Highways (AASTHA) project in this district. The project , which was launched by Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa today , has been conceived by the District Red Cross Society , District Police and Health Department who have pooled resources for the purpose. Under the scheme a permanent Ambulance along with a driver and a first aid box will be stationed at eight points on the National and State Highways passing through the district. A police picket has also been erected alongside all points where walkie talkie facility was available so that as and when a message calling for requirement of an ambulance was flashed from the Police Control Room the nearest ambulance would be able to reach the spot and provide necessary services. Giving details of the scheme, Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Anirudh Tewari said under the scheme eight ambulances would be stationed here and at Phaguwala on the Sangrur - Bhawanigarh road, at Mehlam on the intersection of the Bhawanigarh - Sunam road , at Kup Kalan on the Malerkotla - Ludhiana road, at Badbar on the Sangrur - Barnala road, at Handiaya on the Barnala - Tapa road, at Pakhoke on the Barnala - Bajakhana road and at Mehal Kalan on the Barnala - Raikot road. Mr Tewari added that in the second phase of the scheme along with four more points, police pickets would also be built which would provide STD - PCO facility to the general public. He said a specific telephone number would also be provided for the Police Control Room which could be contacted round-the-clock for requisitioning ambulance service in case of emergency. He said besides accident victims the facilities would also be made available for any emergency requirement in the rural areas. He said an awareness drive would also be conducted in villages through respective panchayats to make the people aware of this facility. He said the scheme had been envisaged and executed with the cooperation of SSP, Sangrur Arpit Shukla and SSP, Barnala Ishwar Singh . Speaking on the occasion
Mr Dhindsa praised the work, saying it was the need of
the hour and was set to save several lives as timely
medical attention would be provided to people in distress
from now on in the district. He said there was need to
start such projects in other districts of the state also. |
New sight likely for mental
hospital AMRITSAR, March 19 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed the preparation of a scheme to ensure upgradation of Dr Vidyasagar Punjab Mental Hospital here. It has been reliably learnt that on his last visit to Amritsar, Mr Badal had directed the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) to ascertain whether the surplus land surrounding the institution could be exploited commercially to generate funds for the project. Consequently, a high-level, multi disciplinary team lead by PUDA chief administrator K.B.S. Sidhu visited the hospital during the week and held discussions with Deputy Commissioner Narinderjit Singh and other officers. According to sources, the preliminary proposal prepared by the district administration had recommended the use of 24 acres of vacant land behind the main hospital building for a residential scheme. Since no proper access was available from the back the report envisaged the widening of the front entry by relocating a few buildings. A high-level team from Chandigarh which included, apart from the PUDA chief, the Chief Town Planner, Punjab, Mr H.S. Bhogal, experts from architecture, town planning, marketing, civil engineering and project management disciplines, felt that as long as 40 acres of the part of this area was continued to be used as the hospital, proper planning and consequential optimal commercial utilisation of the peripheral chunk was not possible. The committee, it is learnt, has decided to recommend the complete shifting of the hospital to a new, alternative site. This land, which is located on Circular Road, and is sandwiched between the posh Medical Avenue and Beauty Avenue. Any planned scheme to develop his pocket would be an instant success, claimed the report. It said the front could be auctioned as a lucrative commercial belt. The team is also known to have inspected alternative sites for the hospital, including Mahal village and Gonsabad, within the municipal limits. Mr Sidhu, when contacted
on phone at Chandigarh, admitted that PUDA was examining
a scheme for the upgradation of the institution. He
refused to give details, saying the proposal was at the
premature stage. |
PCMS doctors present charter
to minister AMRITSAR, March 19 — The PCMS Doctors Association today presented a charter of their demands to the Health Minister, Dr Baldev Chawla, seeking immediate implementation of the fourth Pay Commission recommendations. The president of the association, Dr Jagjit Singh Khalsa, in a press note, issued here today, stated that last year the Chief Minister had agreed to get the revised pay scale implemented. But noting had been done as yet. The minister assured them that he would try his best to get the proposal of pay-scales through. Dr Khalsa added that the Health Minister also agreed to their demand that the annual confidential report of the Civil Surgeon should be written by the Director Health Services rather than by the Deputy Commissioner, as was being done earlier. The Health Minister promised to complete overhauling of the Health Department and improve its infrastructure to present a better picture of the department. Participating in a workshop on male participation in family welfare programmes, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla warned against the population explosion and stressed for greater need for adopting family planning programme. Dr Chawla said India would cross population of 100 crore in May this year which was second to China. He said on October 12, 1999, the world population had crossed 600 crore mark which was very alarming. He said the population was increasing at the rate of 1 per cent per annum and social scientists had warned of food scarcity and starvation if it was not checked effectively. He said the Punjab Government was aware of this serious problem. He said Punjab had recorded birth rate of 22.4 per cent which has lower against the national figure of 26.4 per cent. Dr Chawla said men had equal responsibility in the welfare of their families, but unfortunately society had burdened women, with family and social obligations. He pointed out that compulsory sterilisation during Emergency had left visible scars on the psyche of men. He said conventional incision method was reasonably unacceptable due to higher infection rate. The Health Minister said Punjab had adopted the no scalpel vasectomy (NSV) method of male sterilisation in a larger way. He said national male acceptance for family welfare methods had risen with introduction from 1.9 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the past two years. He said NSV was innovated by a doctor in China in 1974 and later adopted by large number of countries, including India. Dr R.S. Sandhu, Director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, said population had become major obstacle in development. He said the state Health Department had directed all district health authorities to stress on male participation in family welfare programmes. He said doctors in every district had been trained to conduct the NSV. He said this year 96,340 NSV sterilisations were conducted in the state, out of which 15,021 were done in Amritsar district only. He said Amritsar had stood second at the national level after Kareemgunj in Andhra Pardesh. Dr Ram Kaza, the master trainer of NSV in India, who was first to get training from China said the Union Government had adopted the NSV as a national project and as many as 20 states have been covered so far. He said response in Punjab was encouraging. He explained that the NSV was totally pain free as stitchless method. He said it takes five minutes to complete the operation. He said complication rate was almost nil at 0.4 per cent. He said only precaution men needed was not to kick the scooter and bath for two days and use rubber for three months. Dr Lalrintluangi, in charge of the national NSV project said Andhra Pradesh was doing best in male sterilisation in the country. She said that they had so far organised 134 NSV workshops and 39 trainers had been trained from China. She said the NSV project had been extended up to June, 2001 and states should actively participate in it. Dr Saraswati Raju, Director, male participation, Ms Ena Singh Assistant Representative, United Nations Family Planning Association, Dr Rajinder Singh, Civil Surgeon, Amritsar, Dr Gurbaljit Singh Sandhu, District Family Welfare Officer, Dr Baljit Kaur, State Trainer, NSV, also addressed the workshop. The Health Minister also
honoured health workers who had done outstanding work in
family welfare. |
Ramoowalia accuses Badal of
doublespeak LUDHIANA, March 19 — Accusing the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, of misinforming people on the upgradation of Rajasansi airport at Amritsar, the president of the Lok Bhalai Manch, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, said the project has been shelved. Talking to TNS here today, Mr Ramoowalia ridiculed Mr Badal for making statements regarding the continuation of this project on the floor of the House. When actually the Rs 105 crore cheque sanctioned for the same had already been taken back by the union government and Rs 50 crore from this sanctioned amount had now been allocated for the upgradation of Jammu airport. Mr Ramoowalia, in support of his claim on this issue, also cited the case of no reference being made for the upgradation of Rajasansi airport in the consolidated fund. He said that the case had also not been referred to the Project Investment Board, while the upgradation of Kochi airport, which had also been planned and sanctioned simultaneously, was already complete. Confirming that his party would undertake a “padyatra” from Amritsar to Rajasansi airport on March 24 and then stage a dharna there to demand for the start of the project of upgradation of the airport, he accused Mr Badal of trying to hide facts on almost all developmental projects. Mr Ramoowalia said the Bathinda Oil refinery had been shelved. Regarding the alleged decision to sell off 75 acre of prime land of Punjab Agricultural University, he said that a large number of members of Parliament had signed a memorandum demanding a ban on its sale to be later submitted to the Union Government. The Lok Bhalai Party
chief also alleged that while on the one hand Mr Badal
had passed a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha demanding a
roll-back in the rise in prices of urea and fertilisers
on March 15, he had actually issued a whip to all Akali
MPs on March 16 to vote in favour of the Union Budget and
pave the way for its passing. |
Denial of jobs to terrorist-hit
criticised AMRITSAR, March 19 — BJP MLA Mrs Lakshmi Kanta Chawla (BJP) has criticised the Punjab Government for rejecting the cases of families of the terrorist victims seeking government jobs on flimsy grounds. Mrs Chawla, in a press note issued here today, said application of 174 such job seekers had been rejected while taking the judgement of the Supreme Court as an excuse. The BJP MLA felt that public personalities be nominated on such committees which consist only of senior government officers. She urged the government to ask the committee to review its decision which was going to have great ramification on the families where breadwinner, had been killed by terroriststs. The former CPI MLA and the patron of the Punjab Istri Sabha, Mrs Vimla Dang today supported Mrs Chawla for raising the issue. Mrs Dang said the government was doing this on the pretext of the Supreme Court judgement which only said that jobs should not be given if the application were presented late. The veteran CPI leader felt that the Supreme Court had instructed the state government to draw guidelines to decide whether the delay was reasonable or otherwise but she regretted that it had put up rather rigid instructions without taking into considerations the circumstances of each such case. The fact remained that there was an utter lack of sympathy for the families of the victims, she added. She urged the Chief
Minister to adopt a sympathetic attitude and ensure
suitable amendment to the present guidelines. |
Requests for NOCs pile up FEROZEPORE: The demand for dispensing with no-objection certificates (NOCs) for property registration has gained momentum among residents of the local cantonment area where most of the property belongs to the Department of Defence. The NOC is a pre-requisite for the registration of any document pertaining to property situated in the area. In November, 1995, the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Satish Chandra, had directed the Sub Registrar to insist on NOCs from the Cantonment Executive Officer- (CEO). This direction was given on a request made by the Army authorities with a view to verifying the title to ownership before registering any document. At this moment, hundreds of applications seeking NOCs have piled up in the CEO’s office as the Army authorities directed the CEO in November last year not to issue any NOC in respect of registration of sale and purchase of old grant properties in the cantonment area. Mr Vijay Kumar Gupta, a cantonment resident and president, Block Congress Committee, says he had been awaiting the NOC since August last year ‘‘I am unable to sell my property till I get the NOC’’, he laments. Condemning the delaying tactics of the authorities concerned, Mr Gupta says the provision of the NOC has brought down the prices of property. Besides, people now prefer to purchase property outside the cantonment limits. He pointed out that earlier registration was done on the basis of receipts of house and water taxes. He urged the authorities concerned to withdraw the condition of NOC in the larger public interest. Mr Ravi Kumar Soi, a member of the Cantonment Board (MCB), reveals that in other cantonments, the NOC for sale of superstructures in the civil area is not required. The issue was also discussed at the Cantonment Board’s monthly meeting on February 7. The Cantonment Board’s Vice-President, Mr Raj Kumar, said it was resolved at the meeting that there was no necessity for obtaining the NOC from the military authorities for sale of superstructures on old grant sites in the civil area. Mr Subhash Padam, Sub Registrar, said since the CEO did not have the full record of the old grant properties in the cantonment area, he was not fully competent to issue the NOC. Mr Padam said that he had recommended to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, the need for dispensing with the NOC because people were simply exchanging or transferring the possession of ‘malba’ or superstructure only and not the land because no mutation of these exchanged properties on the basis of possession was given effect to in the revenue records. Certain cantonment residents have also brought this difficulty to the notice of Punjab minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, who represents the cantonment Assembly segment. The minister admitted that the demand for dispensing with the NOC was genuine and something would be done in this connection soon. The procedure for
getting the NOC is not only lengthy and time-consuming
but also expensive. The Cantonment Board has fixed the
NOC processing fee at Rs 1,500. Several maps of property
are also required to be enclosed with the application on
a prescribed one-page performa which is sold by the
Cantonment Board at Rs 10. |
Canal waters’ theft irks
farmers ABOHAR, March 19 — Irked at theft of water from irrigation canals, farmers of Shergarh village near here have vowed to launch an agitation if the authorities did not come to their rescue. Accusing officials of the Irrigation Department of conniving with those indulging in theft of canal waters for several years now, the residents have pressed the authorities for an early solution to the problem or else threatened to launch the agitation. As Shergarh is located at the tail-end of Punjab, its residents rely on canal waters for irrigation. However, pilferage from the Lambi and Ramsar canals continues causing shortage of irrigation and drinking water in the village. The village, Mr Gurdeep Singh Dhillon, stated that the farmers had resolved to agitate if the normal supply of canal water was not restored in a day or two. “repeated pleas have yielded not results”, he lamented. Mr Dhillon alleged that some influential farmers of villages in other areas were illegally draining out water from the two canals by using pipes. “Since our village water works also relies upon the canals, we are short of even drinking water. Despite warnings, this continues to happen with obvious connivance of officials”, he remarked. Mr Devinder Kumar, a farmer, pointed out that the shortage of canal water led to low productivity of crops in the area. “The quality of crops is also affected.” Mr Bharat Singh, another farmer said. They added that the problem might aggravate during the paddy sowing season. Although Shergarh is the worst hit by the problem of water theft, some more villages are likely to join the chorus. Former MLA, Arjun Singh said over a dozen villages were facing similar problem. He remembered having raised the matter in the Vidhan Sabha during his tenure as a legislator. He alleged that affluent landlords were indulging in canal water theft at the behest of their political masters, who were using their influence in saving them from legal action. However, the Executive Engineer of the Abohar canal division, Mr B.N. Pujara, said the situation had improved after the irrigation officials intensified patrolling along the canals following complaints of water theft. “We have also penalised a number of farmers for stealing water”, he said. Denying connivance of the irrigation officials with those indulging in theft, he said “apart from pilferage, the tail-end villages are facing water scarcity on account of choked and damaged canals, which are crying for repair”. He said the repair had been delayed due to paucity of funds, but assured that a major repair work was on the anvil in the next year. On being contacted,
Punjab Irrigation Minister, Janmeja Singh Sekhon denied
political influence in saving the landlords from legal
action, but assured to look into the matter. |
Govt to lay stress on
industrialisation LUDHIANA, March 19 — Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Punjab, has said that the state government will bring about revolutionary changes to improve the financial position of the state and during the next two years, stress will be laid given on providing infrastructural facilities for integrated development and industrialisation of the state. Addressing a function at Gill village after inaugurating the newly constructed building of Government Primary School by the gurudwara committee of the village at a cost of Rs 3 lakh yesterday, he said the state government in the next two years would strive to provide gainful self-employment to the unemployed youth by providing training and subsidised loans through financial institutions. He asserted that the economic measures adopted during the past two annual Plans to check unnecessary expenditure would continue so that more funds could be arranged for development and welfare in the state. The minister said the government would also strengthen the educational facilities in rural areas. Appreciating the contribution of the village towards technical education by providing land for the setting up of first rural engineering college in the state, which has produced thousands of engineers, the minister assured that the state government would look into the legal aspect regarding reservation of seats for the students belonging to Gill village. The minister urged social and religious organisations to come forward to improve educational and health facilities in the villages. He also announced a
grant of Rs 2 lakh for the development of the Gill
village and Rs 1 lakh each for Jasdev Nagar and Baba Deep
Singh Nagar. |
All-pervading Holi spirit JALANDHAR, March 19 — People, especially youths, in the city and surrounding areas have armed themselves with various gadgets for celebrating Holi. Holi colours — dry, oily and wet — and ‘pichkaaris’ of different shapes have been witnessing hot sale in every nook and corner of the city for the past one week. Children, armed with “gulal” and colour-filled “pichkaaris” are making the most of Holi spirit. Even elders are anxiously awaiting the festival of colours. “We don’t like the smearing of faces with black, sticky and harmful oil colours but we have stocked “loads of gulal” for the festival day”, said Mr Kamlesh Singh, a middle-aged resident of Jawahar Nagar. Most of the teenagers are busy planning things to make the day a memorable event. “I and my friends have plans to fill our open jeep with “gulal” for the big day,” said Tinu, a first-year student. “I celebrated the festival in a very lively, colourful and decent manner with my friends last year, but we have not yet planned anything for this Holi,” a young professional said. The market has been flooded with innovative, costly Holi cards and other special gifts. Ms Harpreet, a gift shop owner in Model Town, said if the variety of gifts was enormous, the response too was not discouraging. “We had Holi cards, starting from Rs 15 to Rs 150, and most of them have been sold out. Same is the case with other gifts like beautiful baskets of good-quality scented “gulal” with a price tag ranging between Rs 50 and Rs 250. Ruchika, a young girl, observed “though you have to shell out more for buying quality items, the inner satisfaction you get after gifting it to someone special offers utmost contentment.” “The rainbows of colour make Holi the most suitable occasion to make amends with friends,” remarked Shalini, a local college student. Over the years the festival has started serving as a “goodwill ambassador” and people, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, take pains to make it a memorable event. Most of the markets have
hi-tech toys, including battery-operated
“pichkaaris”, apart from cheap and harmful
“gulal”. The average-quality “gulal”
is available between Rs 75 and Rs 80 per kg. Ordinary
plastic “pichkaaris” and guns are available for
Rs 5 to Rs 50 a piece. |
Corporation staff allege
victimisation LUDHIANA, March 19 — The Punjab Land Development and Reclamation Corporation Employees Union has alleged victimisation of office-bearers of the union for exposing the “gypsum scandal” in the corporation. In a joint statement issued to the press here today, Mr Roshan Lal Bhatia, president and Mr Dalip Singh, General Secretary, alleged that the officials of the corporation who “exposed” the ‘scandal’ a few days ago, were being harassed by transferring them. At least three office-bearers of the union had been given difficult postings, they alleged. They said that the senior officials involved in the scandal were annoyed for being “exposed” and had stoped to such levels to “punish” the “erring officials”. They have also alleged that in spite of the scandal coming to light, the powers that be in the corporation had given key posts to a few officials, who had earlier alleged been removed from these posts on charge of being involved in the scandal. It may be recalled that the union had earlier alleged that entries were being made in the corporation registers regarding the gypsum that was never received. They had alleged that though the fraud in entries being made about 1008 metric tonnes of gypsum in the Jalandhar Division of the corporation was detected, no inquiry was ordered into this. The two union leaders
demanded that the Vigilance Bureau conduct an inquiry
into the scandal. The guilty be brought to book and the
victimisation of the other officials by transferring them
be stopped. |
Petrol dealers not to supply
fuel to Police Dept MOGA, March 19 — The stand-off between the district police and petroleum dealers over the payment of fuel bills continue, with each side sticking to its guns. As the dealers have resolved not to supply fuel to the police on credit, till arrears were cleared, police patrolling may be affected in the area. The District Petroleum Dealers’ Association General Secretary, Mr Gurmeet Singh Khokhar, said that they would make all possible efforts to recover a huge arrears outstanding for more than three years. This also includes arrears of fuel supplied to the Police Department during elections and VIP duties. He lamented that a two-day dharna and a half day’s closure by the fuel stations across the district as mark of protest has yielded no results, “we have therefore resolved not to supply fuel to the Police Department”, he said. The association is also planning to move court and adding up arrears for this purpose. Mr Khokhar said,
“The authorities are now relying on “thikri
pehras” for policing”. In the absence of the
SSP, Moga, the DIG Ferozepore range, Mr Hardeep Dhillon
when contacted said that there was no effect on policing,
as is being made out by the dealers. He added that all
payments are released to the district SSPs from time to
time. “There can be a delay in payments, but not
blocking of funds”. |
IMA refutes Civil
Surgeon’s statement GARHSHANKAR, March 19 — The local chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has refuted the statement of the Civil Surgeon here that the most of the nursing homes in the district sold drugs without a valid licence and a qualified pharmacist. The IMA press note stated that the civil surgeon can dispense drugs to his patients under the rule 123 of Drugs & Cosmetic Act. The Act exempts doctors from requiring licence for dispensing drugs to their patients. The Schedule ‘K’ of the Act clearly authorises the registered medical practitioners (allopathic) to dispense drugs to his patients. The Section 42 of pharmacy Act, exempts registered medical practitioners from employing any pharmacist for dispensing drugs to his patients. Thus doctors are fully authorised to purchase, stock and dispense drugs to their patients. Unlike Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, is such a district where nursing homes were being run by doctors hence the drug licence or pharmacist was not required. The IMA threatened the
civil surgeon against any infringement on their rights. |
'Budget proposals will result in
price hike' PATIALA, March 19 — The prices of most of the goods will increase substantially as a result of amendments proposed in the Budget of 2000. The across-the-table increase in excise duty rates from 8 per cent to 16 per cent will not only affect the common man but also hamper the growth of industry. This was stated by Mr K. Sampath, income tax expert, while delivering the keynote address in the seminar on the “The finance bill-2000” organised by the Patiala branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mr Sampath stated that no concrete steps had been taken to put the fiscal deficit in permissible limits, resulting in imbalances in the economy. The control in government expenditure is the need of the hour. Welcoming the delegates, Mr Navdeep Singh Choudhary, Chairman of the branch, said the increase in dividend tax to 20 per cent would certainly not be liked by the stock markets. Mr G.S. Pannu, Chairman, Northern India Regional Council of ICAI, was felicitated. More than 150 chartered
accountants and income tax lawyers from Patiala, Sangrur,
Rajpura, Samana and Sirhind participated in the seminar. |
Registration of documents
computerised FATEHGARH SAHIB, March 19 — The Mandi Gobindgarh sub-tehsil of the district has become the first sub-tehsil in the state to have computerised registration of documents. Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the computerisation of registration work, Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, said the people coming for registration need not bring their photographs now as these would be shot by a digital camera and printed on the backside of the document. It would put an end to frauds committed during the registration of sale deeds as the photographs of all parties, including witnesses, would be stored in the computer. It would also curb the tendency to undervalue the property as the rates of different properties had already been fed into the computer. This would result in an increase in the revenue of the government. The Deputy Commissioner said the issue of providing a legal frame work to the computerisation work by amending the Stamp Act and the Registration Act had been taken up with the government. The government had been requested to amend the Stamp Act so that stamp duty was leviable on the general power of attorney. Computerised registered
documents were distributed among the public on the
occasion. |
“Abducted girl”
recovered HOSHIARPUR, March 19 — The police here has recovered Balbir Kaur who allegedly was abducted on March 14 from her house. Mr R.K. Mittal SSP Hoshiarpur in a press note last evening said that on March 15 Baldev Singh son of Hari Singh of Chiton village complained to the police about the kidnapping of his daughter Balbir Kaur. In the FIR Baldev Singh stated that on March 14 at 3.30 a.m., Dogar Ram, Joginder Pal son of Udho Ram, servant of Joginder Pal, Sohan Singh son of Rakha Ram of Chiton village, Rajinder Singh son of Sampurn Singh of Mane village, Malia PS Jhawal, four unidentified persons and two women came to his house in Tata Sumo and pushed his daughter Balbir Kaur in it. Before leaving they obtained his signatures on a white paper. When he resisted they threatened him to kill. The SSP said that on
this information police registered a case under Section
363-366, 452-506 and 120B of the IPC and started
investigation. The police arrested Amar Singh son of
Sunder Singh, Rachhpal Singh son of Sampuran Singh of
Mane Malia village and Gurbachan singh son of Karam Singh
of Bhullar village. Investigation revealed that Balbir
Kaur had affairs with Raju of Bham village and both were
willing to marry. But Baldev Singh did not want marry his
daughter to marry Raju as he was not from his caste.
Baldev Singh conspired with Dogar Ram, Joginder Pal and
his servant Gurbachan Singh and invited them to his
residence to marry his daughter with Rachhpal Singh. On
the scheduled time all of them came to his residence in
Tata Sumo. Baldev Singh and Sohan Lal panch of Chiton
village forced Balbir Kaur into Tata Sumo and informed
the police about the kidnapping of his daughter. |
Historian emphasises role of
masses PATIALA, March 19 — Three-day Punjab History conference on Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st century in writing the History of Punjab organised by the Department of Punjab Historical Studies on the university campus concluded with the valedictory session here today. Dr Shiv Kumar Gupta, Head, Department of History, Punjabi University, in his paper emphasised the need to explore the role of the masses and evolution of composite culture in this region. He said that historians must write an objective history and shun writing history with biased approaches. In this context, he also referred to the tug-of-war going on between Marxist historians and the present authorities in the ICHR, resulting in the withholding of the publication of two volumes, one edited by M.M. Pannikar and the other by Sumit Sarkar. Dr Gupta appealed that since scholarship of these historians could not be questioned the two volumes must be published at the earliest. Taking note of post-modernist approach in writing history, Dr Gupta said that it was a retrograde approach because it emphasised the revival of narrative history. Rather than encouraging mutual harmony among diverse ethnic groups, it promoted separatist tendencies among them, which was in the interest of neither national unity nor the universal brotherhood. Presenting the resume of the 32nd session of the Punjab History Conference, Dr D.K. Verma, said that a total of 37 papers were presented during the three-day conference of which 15 were in Punjabi, three in ancient section, 12 in modern section and 10 in medieval section. Dr Surjit Hans shared his impressions about the conference and expressed how Punjab history conference served a platform to assess and establish the views of scholars. Major-General (retd) Dr Jaswant Singh read a paper on Saga of Bravery of Sikhs in Indian armed forces 1947-71. He lauded the achievements of Lt-Gen Harbakhsh Singh, Maj-General Rajinder Singh Sparrow, Lt-Gen J.S. Aulakh and others. Ms Amrit Walia from Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, in her paper ‘Education and Political Change in Punjab, 1882-1919’ brought out how as a result of modern education, new elite emerged in Punjab which started reacting to the different policies of the government. Ms Jaspreet Walia of Guru Nanak Dev University read a paper on ‘Cabinet Mission’, Response and Reaction of Master Tara Singh. According to her Master Tara Singh discerned “death-knell” for the future of the Sikhs in this plan hence he rejected it outrightly. Dr Sukhdev Singh Sohal of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, read a paper on ‘Towards Reassessment of Multan Riots of 1881’ and brought out how even the officials participated in the riots on communal lines. These riots, according to Dr Sohal, set a pattern for later communal riots in Punjab. Others who presented
their papers included Dr Joginder Kaur Chawla of Delhi
University, Dr K.S. Bajwa and Dr K.L. Sachdeva of DAV
College, Jalandhar. |
FCI staff call off stir BATHINDA, March 19 — The FCI Executive Staff Union has called off its proposed pen-down strike on March 21 in protest against the non-implementation of its demands by the FCI management. Mr Gian Chand Bansal, Press Secretary, FCI Executive Staff Union, in a press note here today said that proposed pen-down strike had been called off on the assurance of Managing Director, FCI, Mr J.S. Gill that FCI management would make efforts to get the nod of central government shortly for implementing the demands. Mr Bansal added that the main demands of the union included the time-bound promotions of the employees and lifting of ban on appointments on compassionate ground in the organisation. He added that a MoU in this regard was signed between the Union and the management on April 23, 1999. He said that Mr Gill had
claimed that FCI management had completed its internal
exercise for implementing the items of MoU and it was
under active consideration of the central government now. |
Rice millers’ plea to
govt agencies GURDASPUR, March 19 — Procuring agencies have not been lifting levy rice for the past one month. Stocks to the tune of more than 1,000 rice wagons have piled up with rice millers. Each wagon costs more than Rs 2 lakh. According to Mr Balwinder Singh, Spokesman for rice millers, the government is not lifting levy rice on the plea that they will lift it only after the government custom milling is completed and lifted by the FCI. An another reason advanced is that of inadequate space. Mr Balwinder Singh said that both the reasons were baseless. Firstly the government was not lifting levy rice of those millers who have no government paddy for milling with them. Secondly the space available with the government to store levy rice was enough. Mr Balwinder Singh said
the season of paddy selling has reached the fag end.
Therefore the commission agents who are forced by the
farmer to make them payment are pressuring the millers
for payment against paddy lifted by them. |
Liquor vends’ auction
fetches Rs 2 cr PATIALA, March 19 —Lengthy behind-the-scenes negotiations between excise officials and contractors delayed auction of liquor vends in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib district by over five hours. In the end however, the state government gained additional revenue of over Rs 2 crore. The syndicate was broken at most of the places. As a clear deviation from the past, different groups managed to get most of the auctioned vends. However, the government’s policy of lowering the security deposit to break the syndicate and encourage small bidders did not bring dividends in the Patiala city circle and the Rurki circle in Fatehgarh district as bidders did not come forward. The auction would take place later. Talking to TNS some contractors said they did not bid as the minimum auction price was too high. They said even last year, the outgoing syndicate suffered a loss of a few crores so they were cautious this time. An official release said auction for these circles had been put off to break the syndicate so that the government may earn more revenue. The total auction of the Rajpura, Dera Bassi, Nabha and Samana circles of Patiala district fetched Rs 51.37 crore, about Rs 2.30 crore more than the last year. The Rajpura circle had Rs 14 crore compared to Rs 12.60 crore, last years amount. Dera Bassi had 13.27 this year, compared to 13.17 in the previous one, the Nabha circle returned amount of Rs 10 crore as earned last year. Samana had Rs 10 crore, while last year it was Rs 9.20 crore. Fatehgarh district had a
small profit of little over Rs 30 lakh. The Bassi and
Sirhind circles were auctioned for Rs 7.71 crore, only Rs
1 lakh more than the last year’s figures. The
Gobindgarh circle was auctioned for Rs 13.75 crore. The
Bassi Pathana circle went into loss as the vends were
auctioned at Rs 10.76 crore less than the earlier figures
of Rs 11.08 crore. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
