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| Sunday,
June 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Crime in Punjab and licenses to kill Chandigarh, June 16 Investigations reveal that on an average 30 to 40 applications for grant of licenses for keeping firearms, especially guns, are made in Punjab everyday. Though the total number of licenses for keeping firearms in Punjab may touch the six-figure mark, the number of actual firearms available in the state may be much more. Last week when the Chief Minister convened meetings of the district officials, including the top brass of the police, the issue for regulating the grant of licenses for firearms came up for discussion. One of the major contributing factor for a spurt in urban crime throughout the state has been the use of firearms, both licensed and unlicensed. Many youngsters, especially those belonging to the families of politicians and even bureaucrats, including police officials, have been reported to have brandished their both licensed and unlicensed weapons at the slightest provocation. Even some cases, the weapons were fired also. Recently, a sword and an unlicensed .12 bore rifle were recovered from the car of a friend of a son of a senior IAS officer of Punjab at Punjab Bhavan in New Delhi. Mahesh Kumar, who drove the car, CH01T 8004, into Punjab Bhavan refused to get it searched by the India Reserve Battalion cops on security duty there. He was staying in the room booked in the name of Ranjit Bajaj. The driver of the car, the reports said, not only misbehaved with the IRB jawan but also threatened to get him “dismissed from service”. The Company Commander of the IRB, however, insisted on searching the car. The IRB jawans recovered a pistol lighter, an unlicensed .12 bore rifle and a unsheathed sword from the car. The matter was subsequently reported to the Tilak Marg police station. The case was brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary so as to check the misuse of the accommodation at Punjab Bhavan. The incident caused an alarm as most of VIPs of the state, including politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats and others stay at Punjab Bhavan during their visits to the union capital. The Bhavan building is considered high security zone and is well protected. Besides the “misuse”, it also raised the larger issue of carrying of “lethal weapons” illegally at prohibited places and especially high security zones. The situation has been no different in Punjab also where “unlicensed weapons” are being carried by not only companions of politicians and their wards but also by others to places like circuit houses, state guest houses and even at public places . In most of the cases, weapons and their carriers go unchecked. Both the police and intelligence agencies want that the arms trade in the state to be regulated as certain arms dealers in the state were also allegedly involved in clandestine activities. |
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Degrees specified alone valid Amritsar, June 16 The letter further reads that degrees by the UGC are specified to ensure uniformity of nomenclature, duration and eligibility of different degrees awarded by various universities at the national level. It further states that the universities are therefore, advised to award only those degrees which are specified by the UGC. The universities have been advised not to award any degree other than already specified without the prior approval of the UGC. Taking serious note, the Chairman has stated that many universities have sent requests for approval and specification of new degrees and those with different nomenclature already being awarded without the approval of the UGC. “The commission having examined and deliberated the issue in detail has resolved that the degrees — Bachelors in Information Science, Bachelor in Information Technology, Master in Information Science and Master in Technology be not specified by the commission and as such no university be allowed to award a degree with the above nomenclature. However, in the interests of students already pursuing these degrees the UGC has decided to permit recognition of these degrees to the students
already enrolled up to the session 2000-2001. So much so, the demi-official letter of the UGC Chairman states that the Vice-Chancellors will be held responsible for lapse, if any, in this regard. The commission has further resolved that the universities, instead should be advised to award degree of B.Sc and M.Sc, respectively, of three and two years’ duration, respectively, in place of BIS/BIT and MIS/MIT which may well be in subjects of information science systems and information technology. It further says that after examining the issue, the commission had resolved that the degrees of BIS/BIT and MIS/MIT be not specified by the commission and as such no university be allowed to award a degree with that nomenclature. In the wake of the letter of the UGC Chairman, a meeting of the College Development Council was held with Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University. The meeting was attended by Dr S.P. Singh, Dean, Colleges in the light of the UGC guidelines, the meeting decided to decrease the duration of information technology from 4 years to three years. The nomenclature of the BIT has been changed to B.Sc (IT) with the same syllabus. The duration of the MIT has also been reduced by one year and its nomenclature will now be M.Sc Honours (IT). The letter will affect the future of courses related to information technology introduced by Guru Nanak Dev University and other universities of northern India. The BIT/BIS and MIT/MIS courses were designed in a manner to enable the students to get jobs in information technology all over the world. Sources said the Chairman of the UGC had taken the decision to “please education shops” which were now not attracting students as the universities had introduced degrees in this field. Second, the letter of the Chairman was virtually aimed at eroding the autonomy of universities. However, the UGC officials claim that the role of universities should be to produce researchers and scientists and not technocrats. The courses, it allowed to continue, ultimately affect research work, they argue. |
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Panel minutes tampered with Amritsar, June 16 This is for the first time in the 32-year history of the university that any Dean or Head of the department has levelled serious charges like ‘fabrication or tampering with’ the record. Interestingly, the demi-official letter of the Principal Secretary, Higher Education dated March 16, 2001, addressed to the Registrar of the university, stated that, “a perusal of the agenda papers reveals that item number 35 of the minutes of the previous meeting of the finance committee concerning creation of the post of Director, Trauma Centre, did not form part of the proceedings of the said meeting received from you vide your letter number 223/R, dated February 3, 2001.” “Further, it has been observed that the Department of Finance had conveyed that no decision was taken at the meeting of the finance committee held on October 19, 2000, to create the post of Director, Trauma Centre, and that the government has imposed a complete ban on the creation of new posts.” The Principal Secretary directed the university authorities that the agenda for the meeting be revised accordingly. A letter of the Joint Secretary, Finance, quoted the Chief Secretary stating that “prima facie, it looks strange that the university may be contemplating creating a trauma unit in the university.” The university was directed by the Punjab Government that before filling the post, the expert opinion of the Department of Medical Education be sought. The Joint Secretary, Finance, in a separate communication to the Finance Department of the university wrote that item number 35 shown passed in the minutes had not actually been passed. However, Dr Soch, when contacted by TNS, claimed that “at the end of the finance committee meeting, a police statement was made by me (Dr Soch) to have a Director, Trauma Centre, to strengthen the Department of Sports, Medicine and Physiotherapy. This was not objected to and it was accordingly recorded as having passed.” Dr Soch further stated that it had been resolved that the Principal Secretary, Finance and the Principal Secretary, Education, may jointly take a decision on the issue and the decision taken by them would be construed as one of the finance committee. Dr Soch claimed this had been documented in the records of the university. Dr Soch said that as per university services rules, Dr Jaspal Singh could not file a complaint directly with the police. He said if he (Dr Jaspal Singh) had done so, action would be initiated against him. In his complaint, Dr Jaspal Singh alleged that from the perusal of the index of items it was clear that no agenda regarding the creation of the post of Director, Trauma Centre, existed in the original index. “Thus, from the chronology of events, it is crystal clear that item No 35 pertaining to the creation of post of Director, Trauma Centre, was forged to favour a particular body of persons close to the university authorities with ulterior motive.” |
Seat-sharing no problem: Mittal Ludhiana, June 16 Talking to reporters after presiding over a meeting of the party leaders here today, Mr Mittal said, the party was not averse to the unity between the Akali Dal (Badal) and the All-India Shiromani Akali Dal led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohara. “In fact we will welcome any such move that will strengthen the alliance”, he remarked. When asked specifically whether his party would ask for more seats this time, he said, this should not be an issue and the seat sharing would be amicably settled by the two parties. Claiming that the alliance was comfortably placed and had a bright electoral prospects, the Minister said, the Congress and other Opposition Parties were feeling desperate. He said the “sangat darshan” programmes of the Chief Minister had generated a tremendous response. “The very fact that they are criticising it proves that it is getting successful”, he observed. He said the Chief Minister of any state had the power, authority and discretion to announce grants on priority basis. “After all he has been represented by the people”, he said. Regarding the preparations by the BJP for elections, he said, the party would finalise the arrangements by July 31. The committees would be set up at the level of polling booths. He presided over meetings at Ludhiana and Phagwara today. Referring to the paddy, he said, the state had set a production target of 1.25 crore metric tonnes this year. |
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Punjab Lok Morcha formed Bathinda, June 16 Mr Darshan Singh Jeeda, president of the Punjab unit of the SJP, said today this here while flagging off a convoy of cars, which would take members of the party to Rajkot in Gujarat, where they would join the convoy of Mr Chandra Shekhar, former Prime Minister, who is holding a “people’s awareness march” from Puri in Orissa to Porbandar in Gujarat. Mr Jeeda said the march by the former Prime Minister, which started on June 5, would conclude on June 19. |
Poll pact only with Left: Cong Fazilka, June 16 Mr Makwana assessed the situation of the party and its workers in Ferozepore district on Thursday evening. He admitted that there was factionalism in the district unit of the party, but hastened to add that it was the internal affair of the party and the differences would be sorted out amicably soon. He refused to meet a small group of rebel Congress activists of the Fazilka and Abohar areas who had come to meet him under the banner of the Sanjha Morcha. Mr Makwana said the party had constituted a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Mr Moti Lal Vora to ensure unity in the party during the ensuing Assembly Poll in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Besides Mr Vora, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, and Mr Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, would be the members of the committee. The committee would assess the probable candidates for the Assembly poll and only candidates with a clean image and prospect of winning would be given the party ticket, Mr Makwana added. He alleged that there was a complete breakdown of law and order in Punjab. |
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Sangat darshan will not do: Cong leader Abohar, June 16 Dr Makwana said the SAD, BJP combine was not going to benefit by ‘sangat darshan’ or district level political conferences because the people of the state were disillusioned with the government led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal. It had earned defame due to “non-governance, rampant corruption, social injustice and gross violation of human rights”. The former Union Minister took exception to the way the Chief Minister was distributing doles/cheques to sarpanches and municipal councillors at ‘sangat darshan’. |
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Punjab finance: Cong feels vindicated Chandigarh, June 16 Issuing a statement on behalf of Capt Amarinder Singh, the spokesman for the PPCC, Mr Sant Ram Singla, said today that the 25 per cent of State’s income was being utilised to pay the interest on huge amount of loan taken by the State Government during the past four years. The situation had become more alarming as even the Union Government was now saying that there was no money with the Punjab Government to implement the 10th Five Year Plan. Mr Singla said that Mr Badal and his colleagues should stop misleading the people about the improvement in the financial health of the
state. Because of the unplanned and politically motivated use of public money in sangat darshan programmes, the state was going down on financial front. Aware of the impending economic danger, the Congress had already set up a high power state economic reconstruction committee which would suggest measures to revive the State’s ruined economy. |
Working for better healthcare Sangrur As part of its welfare activities for different sections of society, the local Lions Club preferred to adopt the diabetes control project to benefit the population of Sangrur town and adjoining areas by organising free diabetes detection camps. Under the diabetes detection drive, the club has organised three camps so far. The first camp was organised here on March 23, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, while the second and third camps were organised on April 29 and June 3, respectively. According to Mr Mukesh Dhawan, Secretary of the club, as many as 387 persons were examined for diabetes at these camps. Of these 195 were old cases and 145 were new cases. Only 47 persons were found not to have diabetes. All patients were examined by Dr P.S. Sibia and Dr Surinder Singla, both from the local Civil Hospital. Medicines were also provided free of cost to the patients. The patients and others were also imparted knowledge of the disease by the doctors. Dr Surinder Singla, Chairman, Health Projects of the Lions Club, Sangrur said the main aim of this drive was to give proper treatment to the diagnosed patients and detection of hidden or undetected patients. He said there were about two crore known cases of diabetes in India besides an equal number of undetected hidden patients. He said the club had launched this drive especially for the undetected patients and improperly treated patients because these patients were at greater risk as their vital organs like heart, eyes, kidneys might be
affected any time. The club has also decided to organise free diabetes detection camps in the rural areas. Mr P.C. Garg, President of the club, said the drive would continue till the whole population of Sangrur town and the adjoining areas was screened for diabetes. He said the club would also launch an awareness campaign against smoking and pollution because these factors were also responsible for increase in the incidence of diabetes and other major diseases in the body. |
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Kidnapped boy found Phagwara, June 16 Mrs Deo told a press conference today that the team headed by Mr Tulsi Ram, SP (D), Kapurthala, had found the boy two days ago from Sangar village in Jammu district of J & K. He was brought here last night by DSP Raj Jit Singh. The kidnapper, Sansar Chand, a distant relative of Raj Kumar, belonging to Sangar, managed to give the slip to the police. Mrs Deo disclosed that the most vital cue in the case was based on the statement of Sushma, teacher of the child, who disclosed that the child had smiled when he saw the kidnapper. It was, therefore, assumed that the kidnapper was known to the child. Another clue in the case was an anonymous letter received in PS Satnampura on Monday morning. The letter disclosed that the child had been seen at Vijaypur in Jammu district in the company of a person called Sansar Chand. Enquiry from Raj Kumar revealed that Sansar Chand was distant relative from his village. Immediately, a police team headed by Mr Raj Jit Singh was sent to Jammu for further investigation. Several raids were conducted by the teams in Jammu, Kathua, Udampur, Vijaypur and Parmandal in the houses of friends and relatives of Sansar Chand. It came to light that about years back, Raj Kumar had shifted from Mumbai to Phagwara. He had sold his room in Mumbai and purchased a plot in Dhiansar for Rs 1,50,000. Sansar Chand was closely associated with the deal of the plot. It is assumed that the kidnapping was in order to extort money from Raj Kumar. The exact motive of the crime, however, will be known only after his arrest. On June 14, on specific information obtained by the police team the house of Sansar Chand was again raided and the child recovered. Sansar Chand managed to escape into the jungle. The child was produced before the Special Magistrate at Jammu on June 15 before he was brought to Punjab. Another police team is still making efforts in Jammu to catch the accused. The SSP made an appeal to all Principals of schools to ensure that only the parents of the children may be allowed to take away children from the school and photographs of the parents or guardians appointed by the parents may be taken for the record of the school. No child should be allowed to leave school without proper verification, added Mrs Deo. |
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Workers steal show from managers Patiala, June 16 Presented with a sophisticated slide show which called for an end to recruitment, except for drivers and conductors, and reduction in the strength of employees in junior grades besides the need to tackle corruption at the lower level expressed later by its Managing Director, Dr Harkesh Singh Sidhu, the employee leaders hit back with their arguments, taking the management to task on various accounts. Leaders representing various organisations of the corporation asked how improvement could be done if the government was freezing the fleet strength, not giving any aid to the corporation nor compensating it for carrying out social obligations in the form of free travel for some sections of society and even allowing corruption in the administration of bus timings in favour of private bus operators. In response, Mr Bikker Singh of CITU questioned the need to have a Chairman of the corporation, saying that the institution was being well managed by the Secretary, Transport. The Chairman, Mr Manmohan Singh Sathiala, along with Transport Minister Raghbir Singh and other senior officials of the corporation were present at the time. He said administrative expenditure of the corporation alone accounted for Rs 62 crore and it could be reduced. Speaking on corruption, he said junior officials were not alone responsible for it. There were many cases in which senior officials who sat as judges in corruption cases of their juniors, not only acquitted them of the charges for extraneous reasons but also gave them plum postings. He said meanwhile management was such an ebb that two depots had been carved out in Patiala and Bathinda out of existing ones without any reason. First abolish senior posts which are unproductive, he added. Union leader Parkash Singh Tiwana said, “They are saying reduce workers at lower level. Why do they not reduce the number of managers?” He also called for putting an end to illegal plying of buses by private operators. The corporation revenue had shot up by Rs 1.5 crore after an intensified drive against illegal private operators. He also called for auctioning condemned machinery every month. Mr Gurbaksha Ram of the Scheduled Caste and Backward Class Union said the purchase policy should be streamlined and made more transparent. He said it was strange that junk was lying dumped in stores. He also highlighted specific instances of malpractices in purchases in the past. Mr Balwinder Singh of Intuc and Mr Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal of Aituc urged for the adoption of a uniform transfer policy, saying that a large number of mandays were lost with employees trying to use political and other resources to get their transfer orders reverted. Mr Dhaliwal called for the need to improve the condition of buses besides paying attention to small items like use of distilled water and use of shock absorbers. The leaders applauded the Managing Director for allowing them to express their views. Minister Raghbir Singh chose to take the side of the workers, saying that the management contention that lower level workers needed to be reduced was wrong. He said if needed the government would prefer to reduce managers in the corporation. He said there was no laxity on the part of the government to take action against those plying buses illegally adding provisional bus timing lists would not be allowed in future. He directed senior government officials present on the occasion to ensure that the interests of PRTC were watched while making the bus timings. He also tried to allay the fears of the employees about reduction in the fleet strength. Corporation Chairman Manmohan Singh Sathiala said he would take up the issue of reimbursement of nearly Rs 100 crore to the corporation for the free travel facility given to some sections of society. He said the kilometre scheme needed to be amended keeping in view the interests of the institution. |
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PRTC to involve own staff to increase
fleet Patiala, June 16 The PRTC is already running a-kilometre scheme which is open to private operators under which the private parties are paid a fixed amount of around Rs 8 per km to operate their buses on the corporation’s routes. Under the scheme the private operators put up their own buses and drivers and the corporation provides the conductors for them. Under the new scheme envisaged by the corporation, a society of present and retired members of the corporation will be formed which will elect its own board of directors. Giving details of the formation of the society, the PRTC Managing Director, Mr Harkesh Singh Sidhu, said it was planned to have 1,000 members on its role with each number contributing Rs 5,000. Mr Sidhu said the society would put up around 100 buses in the corporation on the same term as private entrepreneurs. He said members would also be encouraged to put in the more money than the mandatory contribution saying they would be paid a dividend of two per cent more than the bank rate of interest if they did so. According to sources, the corporation is going in for the scheme to ensure that its own employees may be benefited financially. The PRTC, which is in a financial crunch and is suffering losses due to various social obligations it is fulfilling, including free travel facility for various sections, is not in a position to increase the fleet strength dramatically. The sources said the corporation was also thinking towards creating its own society to run buses under the kilometre scheme as employee were presently up in arms against the private operators running under the kilometre scheme. The grouse of the
employees is that private operators are having a field run as they are being given better routes as well as timings at the cost of PRTC operations. They said besides this the corporation was incurring expenses in terms of infrastructure costs due to the kilometre scheme. They said already the existing depots of Patiala and Bathinda had been turned into two separate depots each. They said other staff was also being deputed due to the extra load of the buses being run under the kilometre scheme. “If we have to spend money on managing their buses we might as well have our own buses”, an employee leader said. Meanwhile, the scheme has been welcomed by
employees at large who feel creation of the society would give them an additional source of livelihood and could very well change plans of the corporation to curtail the staff at the lower level as hinted at a recent self introspection seminar held here recently. “At a time when the corporation is not increasing its fleet strength, the society could well prevent the corporation from going into the hands of private parties with more buses being put up by them in the institution”, employees said. |
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Goons thrash tenants as police looks away Bathinda, June 16 Two policemen who reached the site after about an hour remained mute spectators. They turned a deaf ear to the wails of women who sat with their belongings on the street. The goons, who ruthlessly beat up the occupants, continued their demolition operation, even in the presence of the police. They hurled abuses at the women occupants. Unmindful of the presence of two police officials, the goons, most of them drunk, tried to break the roof of some rooms. Mr Mohan Singh, owner of the building, who carried out the entire ‘operation’, claimed that he had obtained orders to get the building vacated from the local Municipal Council. The two police officials swung into action only when the people witnessing the violence started raising slogans against the police, the Punjab Government and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. When The Tribune team reached the site, one of the eyewitnesses said the goons were accompanied by an ASI and a Head Constable. Even children were thrashed mercilessly. Mr Joga Singh, Sub-Inspector, fearing that the situation may take an ugly turn, rounded up 18 goons and bundled them into a tractor-trailer and took them to the city police station. Senior officials of the Punjab Police reached the spot when prominent political leaders cutting across party lines reached the Deputy Commissioner’s office and raised slogans. Mr Tota Singh, Punjab Education Minister, was presiding over a district grievances redressal meeting in the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, who reached the spot to assess the situation, told TNS that 18 persons who had attacked the occupants had been arrested. He said Sub-Inspector Joga Singh had been placed under suspension. He said a case against these persons had been registered under Sections 452, 427, 380, 354, 148 and 149 of the IPC. Political leaders took out a procession in the city and urged the shopkeepers to down their shutters. Those who led the march were Dr Vineeta Gupta, general secretary, Insaaf International, Mr Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, general secretary, DCC(I), Mr Krishan Kumar Garg, senior BJP leader, and Mr P.D. Goyal, member, Grievances Committee. Mr Rajan Garg, son of Minister Chiranji Lal Garg also visited the site. Information gathered by TNS revealed that the owner of the building, Mr Mohan Singh, had indeed managed to get orders for demolition of the building from the Municipal Council. |
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Case to malign me: minister Bathinda, June 16 In a detailed written to the court of the Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bathinda, Mr Garg stated that Mr N.K. Garg had given false information to the court on the basis of which he had filed a civil suit against him (Mr Garg). Mr Chiranji Lal said he along with Mr Megh Raj were the owners of the land in question since March 10, 1970. The mutation of the land was sanctioned in 1983 in their favour. Even in revenue records he along with Mr Megh Raj were owners of the property in dispute. Mr Chiranji Lal further said the allegation of Mr Garg that he had misused political power was absolutely baseless because he was not a member of the Punjab Cabinet in 1970 when the deal for the land was finalised. He said he had been in possession of the land for over 25 years. He denied the allegation that he had to take the help of the police for assuming possession of the land. Mr Chiranji Lal said the story had been concocted by the plaintiff in collusion with certain politicians of the city with mala fide intention to “harass, defame and damage his image.” Meanwhile, Mr Garg has written to the Governor, the DC Bathinda and the SSP, Bathinda, urging them that a case under Sections 420, 465, 467, 471, 218 and 120B, IPC be registered against Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Mr Megh Raj, Mr Babu Singh and officials of the Revenue Department and of the Municipal Council here who had helped Mr Garg and Mr Megh Raj in forging documents on the basis of which he had allegedly taken possession of the land. |
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7 yrs
gone, rape case still not registered Mansa, June 16 She further stated that after the incident she had submitted a complaint to the SP (H), Mansa, and requested for a medical examination. The complaint was marked by the SP (H) to Mr Joginder Singh Kahlon, DSP, Sardulgarh, but no action was taken. She even met the then SSP, Mansa, Mr V.K. Bhanwra, who gave her a hearing and entrusted the matter to SP (D), Mansa, who again referred it to Mr Iqbal Singh, DSP, Sardulgarh, for an enquiry. She also met various high authorities of the Punjab Government and this got published in the newspapers. Thereafter, the then SSP, Mansa, summoned the accused and the gram panchayat, Banawali village, at the canal rest house at Kusla village in the district, where the accused confessed to their guilt and a department enquiry was ordered against them but no criminal case was registered. She started getting threats from the accused and on December 9, 1996, a false case was registered for theft of wood against her husband Harpal Singh. She was pressurised by ASI Ajaib Singh to bring a compromise and offered to pay Rs 50,000 on behalf of accused in presence of the DSP, Sardulgarh. She was even pressurised by the DSP. |
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Pagers for
cops Dera Bassi, June 16 Apart from this, compounding facility for payment of challans will soon be introduced in Dera Bassi police station for the convenience of the public. This was disclosed by Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, Senior Superintendent of Patiala Police, in a police-public meeting here today. While chairing the meeting, Mr Sidhu said that the service would also be extended to Lalru, Dera Bassi and Banur police stations. The decision has been taken by the police, keeping in view the success of the scheme, introduced in four other police stations in Patiala. The SSP said that the service would not only reduce the reaction time of the police but also load on the wireless system. He said that the scheme would also help in making the cops more vigilant. He distributed 30 pagers among the police personnel of the rank of Sub Inspector, Assistant Sub Inspector, Investigation Officer and Head Constable. He said that pager numbers of the concerned police personnel would be displayed on the notice boards of the police stations, police posts and at other public places. He also appealed to the public to cooperate with the police to help in controlling crime in the subdivision Besides various residents of the nearby villages, Mr H.S. Bhullar, DSP, Mr Jassa Singh, SHO Lalru, Mr Harbhajan Singh, SHO, Dera Bassi, Mr Parminder Singh, SHO, Banur, Mr Jagjit Singh Dalli, president, Municipal Council, Dera Bassi and Mr Kewal Garg, president, Dera Bassi Industrial Association, were also present. |
Probe sought into
purchase of paddy Kapurthala, June 16 Talking to newspersons here yesterday, Mr Sukhpal Singh Khaira, General Secretary of the PPCC and president of the Punjab State Progressive Farmers Association, said the Secretary, Food and Supplies Department, issued directions to all District Food and Supplies Controllers of the state not to purchase paddy from grain markets. He alleged that the government, later, accepted the levy rice prepared from IR-8 from traders at Rs 902 per quintal and thereby committed a fraud with farmers. He said levy rice measuring 35,529 metric tonnes was accepted from the district. Mr Khaira claimed that he had been partially successful in getting released Rs 100 crore as compensation to farmers for distress sale of their crop because of a writ filed by him in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He said the government was making up only 60 per cent loss suffered by farmers. He announced that he would amend his petition and demand CBI probe into the nexus between rice sheller owners and the government.  |
350 new docs, nurses for Punjab: Chawla Phagwara, June 16 After laying the foundation stone of the Rs 40-lakh building of the Community Health Centre at Panshta, Phagwara Block, Dr Chawla claimed that while the construction of 100 hospital buildings had been completed, the remaining 54 buildings would be completed by 2002. Claiming that no polio case was reported in Punjab during the past year, Dr Chawla disclosed that the Health Department had now launched a drive against TB, AIDS and use of intoxicants. There were three lakh TB patients presently in Punjab. The Health Department’s appeal to the public to adopt at least one TB patient had evoked a good response, he continued. NGOs had adopted TB patients in 10 districts, he added. The minister warned that absence or negligence on the part of any doctor, paramedical staff and other employees would not be tolerated and would entail strict action. A fortnight for family health awareness concluded yesterday. Punjab Tourism Minister Swarna Ram also addressed the gathering. |
Man shot at, escapes unhurt Jalandhar, June 16 In another incident, Gurmeet Singh of Bajwa Kalan escaped unhurt when Ajaib Singh and Naib Singh of the same village, with whom he had a land dispute, fired shots at him with their double barrel while he was returning from his field today. A case has been registered. Meanwhile, Manoj Mandal of Bihar was crushed to death by a vehicle while crossing the GT Road, near Jalandhar Doordarshan Kendra, this morning.
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Decision on uniform
syllabi soon: Miani Amritsar, June 16 Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar, Dr S.P. Singh, Dean, College Development Council, principals of various affiliated colleges, teachers and representatives of college managements participated. Mr Miani announced that the government would shortly take a decision regarding uniformity in number of teaching days, vacations, fee-structure and syllabi in universities and colleges. He said the meeting of committees concerned constituted by the government to discuss these issues had been held. He also assured the college principals and teachers that their genuine demands would be considered sympathetically while reiterating that the government was fully aware about the problems of aided, un-aided and government-managed colleges. The Vice-Chancellor said the main purpose of today’s meeting of the College Development Council was to discuss the problems of higher education. Principal S.S. Chatha of Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, Prof Jaspal Singh Randhawa, general secretary, Punjab College Teachers Union, and Principal P.P. Sharma of HMV, Jalandhar, wanted more autonomy for colleges. Principal M.S. Dhillon of Khalsa College, Amritsar and Principal Inderjit Singh of Guru Nanak College, Phagwara, suggested that the state government should take appropriate measures for improving the lot of rural students. They also demanded leave encashment facility for college teachers on the pattern of Punjab Government employees. They said this would help increase the number of teaching days in the universitites and colleges as required by the UGC. Mr Miani laid the foundation stone of Baba Budha College Bhawan for college principals and teachers of Guru Nanak Dev University. The bhawan will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 50
lakh. |
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Department looks for Director Patiala, June 16 The post of Director, Research and Medical Education, has not been filled ever since Dr S.S. Sidhu retired in February. The post was not filled despite the holding of departmental promotion committee (DPC) meetings in which the case of three principals for appointment was taken up. The DPC panel interviewed Dr Ravinder Singh, Principal Government Medical College, Patiala, Dr T.L. Parmar of Government Medical College, Amritsar, and Dr O.P. Mahajan of Government Medical College, Faridkot. However, despite two months having been passed since the holding of the DPC meeting, nothing has been done in this regard. Sources said the reason for the non-appointment of the new department Director was the aversion of Medical Education and Research Minister Manoranjan Kalia’s candidature of Dr Ravinder Singh, who was the seniormost Principal in the state. Dr Parmar and Dr Mahajan are next in line after Dr Ravinder Singh, according to seniority norms. They added that both Dr Ravinder Singh and Dr Parmar had faced the wrath of the minister in recent months. They said explanations had been demanded from them on various issues, with Dr Ravinder Singh even being denied permission to travel abroad recently by the minister, following which he approached the Chief Minister to get permission to go abroad. The sources said due to the non-filling of the post it was the first time that a non technical person, a joint secretary had been given additional charge of the post. Resident doctors of the state have already made a representation to the Chief Minister to appoint a regular Director. The doctors have sited various reasons, including lack of promotions, appointment of wrong persons to various vacancies, non priority to projects and lack of advance planning. Dr O.P. Singh Kande of the Indian Medical Association alleged that the development had come to a standstill in the absence of a Director. He said the IMA would request the Medical Council of India to direct the Punjab Government to fill the post immediately. The sources further said promotions of a large number of teachers had also been held up since long. They said the situation had become precarious during the present vacation period with assistant professors heading many of the departments in medical colleges. |
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University rules may invite malpractices Bathinda, June 16 Students and parents were unhappy over the new move of the university in which it had been decided that no photograph of a candidate should be pasted on an application form. Parents were not ready to give their names or of their wards apprehending victimisation in the PMET. “Our wards have put in their best to get through the test but with these directions largescale malpractices would creep in”. Mr Ashok Gupta, patron, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Punjab, said without any photograph on the entrance or the admission forms anyone could send anybody for taking the test. Moreover, no attestation or any supporting document have been asked by the university. “How would the university authorities prevent a student, who had cleared the PMET earlier and was pursuing his medical studies, from appearing in the PMET again on behalf of another student,”? argued a group of aggrieved parents. Besides, Bathinda, which was a PMET centre last year, was found missing from the list of centres this year. Medical course aspirants in the district would have to go to other districts to appear in the exam. The coming Assembly elections were quoted by many as the main reason for the change in rules, as the ruling alliance would try to ‘reward’ their supporters with medical seats, they alleged. The Medical Entrance Problems Redressal Forum alleged that the CMC, Ludhiana, was not following the rules and guidelines of the university. Mr G.S. Bindra, Deputy Registrar and head of PMET conducting team when contacted said the university would take all preventive measures to stop irregularities due to the university directive on the use of photographs on the admit cards. He added that Bathinda had not been made a centre as per the guidelines of the state government.
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| 8 villages give land
for Sikh university Chandigarh, June 16 The villages which have offered the land are Bassi Gurjran (200 acres), Kandhola (8 acre), Mehtot (50 acre), Fatehpur Bet (30 acre), Hafizabad (30 acre), Raipur (40 acre), Mangarh (23 acre) and Kiri Afghana (50 acre). Mr Jaswant Singh Mann, a founder general secretary of the World Sikh Council, has written a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to announce the approval of the university. He says that the World Sikh University would be a departure from other universities with the avowed aim to set up a centre of academic excellence in the field of medicine, technology, management, laws, Sikh religion and history. He said that the idea was to maintain the academic standard on par with the universities like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and Stanford. The MLA of the area, Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, has given her consent to the project. |
| Professor honoured Patiala, June 16 Stating this, the Academy President, Prof G. Mehta, said that the distinction was in recognition of the significant research contributions made by him as Professor Emeritus at Punjabi University. |
Exporters demand
more wagons Amritsar, June 16 The association alleged that in March it had requisitioned 28 wagons for the purpose but despite making various representations to the railway authorities for boosting the export of sugar to neighbouring countries nothing had been done. Due to the “apathetic” attitude of the railway authorities towards exporters, association members said they were facing a severe crisis of storage and quality control. They fear they may face huge losses during the rains. |
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