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| Sunday,
August 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Waters issue: Badal denies secret pact Phillaur, August 11 Talking to reporters here after a sangat darshan programme today, Mr Badal said the SAD-BJP government had restored cordial relations with neighbouring states — Haryana and Himachal Pradesh — and the Union Government. The Congress could not digest this cordiality. When asked about the Congress’s claim to set up a judicial commission to probe charges of corruption against the Badal government and the SAD-BJP government’s failure to expose corruption in Congress rule the Chief Minister said the Congress party was full of corruption and could not tolerate Lokpal set up by the government and now the case was before the Supreme Court. Mr Badal added the Congress could not face Lokpal as the Congress party’s corruption would have been exposed. He, however, said procedural action had been completed against four or five Congress ministers and the report was expected to be present in the coming state Assembly session. To a question on octroi exemption in the state, the Chief Minister said to let the report of the committee concerned come. On Congress’ allegations that the Akalis did nothing for Punjab’s demands in spite of the BJP-led rule at the Centre, Mr Badal said the Congress always complicated the issues, but never tried to solve these whereas in a short period his government succeeded to get more and more from the Centre with great cooperation of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Badal alleged that the Congress always misled the people and exploited them as the Congress was great exploiter. Mr Badal said a statue of Mr Devi Lal would be installed near Mandi Dabwali on the Punjab-Haryana border on September 25 and the function would be presided over by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chander Babu Naidu and Union Information Minister Sushma Swaraj. Several other national leaders would join the celebrations, he added. Commenting upon the increase in MSP of paddy, Mr Badal claimed that the Prime Minister had given encouraging response to paddy grower states of Punjab, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh. Mr Badal refused to comment upon the statements of Bhai Ranjit Singh and SGPC episodes. Earlier, addressing a sangat darshan programme, the Chief Minister criticised the Panthic Morcha and alleged that people of the state had already rejected its leaders. He said Mr Tohra always stressed that the Akali Dal supported by the SGPC was the only real Akali Dal and “We are enjoying the support of the SGPC, Delhi Committee, Patna Committee, besides the Union Government.” He appealed to the people to ignore the so-called Panthic Morcha and the Congress. He described the sangat darshan programmes as x-ray centres of the area which could be helpful for further treatments. Mr Badal distributed a grant of Rs 92 lakh for 27 villages of the Phillaur subdivision, besides Rs 35 lakh for the development of Phillaur town. Deputy Commissioner K. Shiva Parshad, SSP Gaurav Yadav, DSP Satinder Singh, besides Cabinet Minister Sarwan Singh were also present. |
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CM mum on amendment to water disputes Act: Brar Chandigarh, August 11 Raising the issue forcefully, Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, convener of the Parliament Group of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), said today that Mr Badal was deliberately keeping the people of the state in the dark about a recent amendment in the Inter State Water Disputes Act. The amendment had been made with the consent of Mr Badal as no MP from his party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, spoke against it in the Lok Sabha on August 3 when it was passed by voice vote. Mr Brar and other Congress MPs from the State and
certain MPs from the southern states opposed the amendment as they felt it was an attempt of the Union Government to deprive the states of their rights on the water resources. The amendment was piloted by Mr Arjun Charan Sethi, Minister of Water Resources. A copy of the amendment was given to The Tribune by Mr Brar. Significantly, Mr Badal had expressed complete ignorance about the amendment earlier this week. He had stated that there would be no compromise on the river waters issue and that he would oppose any amendment to the Act going against the interest of the state. However, it remains a mystery as to why the MPs belonging to Mr Badal’s party did not inform him about the amendment passed by the Lok Sabha. The copies of the amendment were circulated to the MPs well in advance before it was passed. Moreover, the amendment was
discussed at a meeting of the Inter-State Council and approved by it. “Why did the Punjab Government not oppose it at the council’s meeting?” Mr Brar asked. Even Mr Badal did not oppose the SYL canal at this forum. Mr Brar said Mr Badal was hand in glove with his family friend, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister,
Haryana. There was a secret understanding between the two. Due to this, the SAD did not take any stand on the amendment in the Lok Sabha. Mr Brar said he had the information that Chandigarh would be transferred to Punjab before the coming elections. “I have got information from my sources in Delhi that the Union Government was negotiating with Mr Chautala on this issue”, he asserted. In lieu of Chandigarh, the Badal government might agree to give water to Haryana. He said with the amendment in the Act which would now be called the Inter-State Water Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2001, the Union Government had got the right to get water disputes settled within a stipulated period by setting up a tribunal. The operative part of the amendment is: “when any request under Section 3 is received from any state government in respect of any water dispute and the Central Government is of the opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central Government shall, within a period not exceeding one year from the date of receipt of such request, by notification in the official
gazette, constitute a water disputes tribunal for adjudication of the water dispute. “Such a tribunal would decide the issue within three years. The amendment further says that “ the decision of the tribunal, after its publications in the official
gazette by the Central Government under Sub-Section (I), shall have the same force as an order or decree of the Supreme Court. Mr Brar said such a provision in the Act by the Union Government was a clear dilution of the riparian rights of the states. The irrigation and hydel issues are state subjects under item 17 of the state list and further under Articles 162 and 246 (iii) of the Constitution. The most significant part of the amendment is “the Central Government shall maintain a data bank and information system at the national level for each river basin which shall include data regarding water resources, land, agriculture, and matters relating thereto, as the Central Government may prescribe from time to time. The state governments shall supply the data to the Central Government or to an agency appointed by the Central Government for the purpose, as and when required.” It further says that” the Central Government shall have the powers to verify the data supplied by the state government and appoint any persons or persons for the purpose. The person or persons so appointed shall have the powers to summon such records and information from the state government concerned.” Data plays a crucial role in the distribution of river waters among the states involved in the dispute. As with the amendment, the power to assess the data has been fully vested with the Central Government; it has got over-riding powers to interpret the data and help the state it chose. At one stage, there was a dispute also between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan over the exact quantum of water to be distributed among partner states and Punjab had objected to the data collected then by saying that it was on the higher side than the water actually flowing in the rivers concerned. |
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Punjab plan to amend Urban Development Act Chandigarh, August 11 At present, the minimum requirement for developing an urban estate is 125 acres. The amendment has been necessitated by smaller pieces of urban land in several districts having been left undeveloped between old towns and cities on the one hand and the new urban estates on the other hand. These pockets have become encroachers’ haven. Besides, these are becoming an impediment to the planned and phased development of new urban areas because of breaking down of essential services. When contacted, Mr A.K. Dubey, Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Housing, Punjab, confirmed that the proposal to amend the Act was at the final stage. Besides, the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) had decided to develop a new urban estate at Nabha following the transfer of the existing 125-acre seed farm to it by the Agriculture Department. Another seed farm, spread over 100 acres at Kapurthala, had also been transferred to PUDA. This would form part of the new urban estates being developed at Kapurthala adjoining Science City. Mr Dubey told Tribune News Service that the government was seriously considering a proposal to involve the private sector in the construction of low-income and middle-income group house in the new sectors of SAS Nagar. “There was a good response to our scheme. We have already shortlisted four such companies, including Gujarat Ambuja, Tata Housing and Industrial Cables. Gujarat Ambuja had undertaken similar work in West Bengal where it constructed LIG and MIG houses. A Punjab team visited West Bengal to study the scheme. The quality of houses was found to be good,” he said. “A final decision would be taken only after a writ petition filed by certain residents opposing the acquisition of land for the new sectors is disposed off by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. We may enter into a joint venture with one of these shortlisted companies or award the work by allotting pieces of land measuring about 25 acres each. We will give the broad outlines, including the provision of essential services, like roads, stormwater drainage, sewage, streetlights, parks and land for community services, besides insisting on quality control,” Mr Dubey said. He said PUDA would encourage the allotment of land to group housing societies as well as cooperative house building societies in the new sectors. So far, less than 10 such societies had been allotted land. My Dubey said though government employees had demanded the allotment of residential plots measuring four, six, eight and 10-marlas the reserve price, no scheme had been formulated so far. “After the government takes a decision, we will conduct a survey to assess the demand and find out the areas in which land is required. If the scheme seems feasible, we will acquire land and allot it to the employees. At present, the reserve price in SAS Nagar is around Rs 4,000 per sq yard,” he said. For the time being, PUDA was engaged in the construction of the district administrative complexes at Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Bathinda, Moga and the PUDA complex at SAS Nagar. The civil works would cost more than Rs 100 crore and the complexes would be completed by end of the next year. |
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Return of ex-ultras to be Punjab Cong poll issue New Delhi, August 11 The Congress, under whose rule militancy ended in Punjab, has forcefully raised the issue of the return of former militant leaders to the state with a delegation of the Punjab unit of the Congress meeting President K.R. Narayanan to convey its concern. Though party’s charge sheet, which is being finalised, would target the Badal government on a host of other issues, the return of separatist leaders would be the theme song of the Congress for the poll. Indicating the Congress thinking, AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, who is in charge of Punjab, accused Mr Parkash Singh Badal of making efforts to facilitate the return of separatists who were currently residing abroad. He said Mr Badal had raised the issue with the Centre also and there were about 190 such leaders whose return was being sought by the Akali Dal. Not only this, Mr Vora said the state government had issued a controversial order asking the Deputy Commissioners in the state to collect details about dependents of the slain militants so that they could be considered for distribution of the relief. The letter dated February 26, 2000, written by Director-cum-Additional Secretary of Relief and Rehabilitation Department, has asked the Deputy Commissioners to give details of the militants killed till May 31,2000, so that a policy could be framed to give assistance to their dependents. The details sought include the number, name and address of the militants killed in the district and that of their dependents. Mr Vora said that the letter, which asks the Deputy Commissioners to furnish details within a week, had not been withdrawn by the state government. “While the state government was showing concern for the families of militants, it had done little for the victims of militancy with about 200 policemen who had fought militancy being behind bars,” Mr Vora said. The Congress, which is reading a political meaning into the actions of the Badal government regarding return of former militants, has decided to take head-on the Badal government on the issue. With the people in Punjab having faced the brunt of violence for 10 years, the Congress feels that anything that had implications on peace would touch the sensitive chord. Pointing to the statements of former militant leaders like Wassan Singh Zafarwal, Congress leaders say that their return was being facilitated to garner support for the
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Police officers to return
awards on Aug 15 Chandigarh, August 11 A press note issued by the President’s Police Gallantry Awardees Association of India said a meeting of the governing body of the association was held today at Chandigarh to discuss the matter. The officers intend to return their medals because of humiliation being faced by them as a large number of them have been suspended, sent to jail and are being penalised for obeying the orders of their superiors like the Directors-General of Police and DC’s during the turbulent days of militancy in Punjab. Suggesting a remedy, the association says the right course is to give amnesty to all officials except those who did it for personal gain or revenge. If amnesty could be given to a large number of terrorists and criminals like Phoolan Devi who had committed dozens of murders in broad day light and even to anti-national foreigners involved in the Purulia arms drop case, then why not to them. They exceeded their brief to only preserve the integrity and independence of the motherland under the orders, guidance and supervision of their superior officers. Their humiliation in courts and jails will lead to demoralisation in the forces. Mr
S. K. Madan, president of the association, said, ‘‘I request the President of India, supreme commander of armed forces, The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Punjab to intervene and grant these officers general amnesty.’’ Human rights activists when anti-national elements were killing hundreds of innocent people in broad daylight in Punjab and what were they doing today to save innocent civilians from being killed by militants in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Madan said. At present there are about 800 officials under suspension facing trial and inquiries. About 25 of them are gallantry awardees and about 50 are winners of distinguished and meritorious service awards. These officers were handpicked by two former DGP’s Mr
J. F. Robeiro and KPS Gill. Their duty was to fight a tough battle with the anti-national elements who carried rewards of millions of rupees on their heads. |
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Morcha leaders to visit Golden Temple Chandigarh, August 11 They will hold a meeting at the residence of Bhai Ranjit Singh. A declaration will be made with regard to the programme of the morcha by its convener, Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi, after the meeting. Another meeting of leaders and other prominent activists of the morcha will be held on August 24 at Gurdwara Akalgarh at Ludhiana. The morcha would observe the death anniversary of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal on August 25 at Longowal village. The Working Committee of the morcha would be announced on August 15 at a Shaheedi conference at Issru village near Ludhiana. |
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HARPREET CASE Patiala, August 11 While being
cross-examined in the court of the Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI Mr Jaspinder Singh Heyer, the approver said Bibi had wanted Harpreet to marry her friend Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi’s son. However, when she came to know that Harpreet had become pregnant, Paramjit Singh Raipur, a confidant of Bibi, had contacted him and asked him to conduct an abortion. Earlier, Dr Sohal had stated on July 17 and July 18 that Harpreet had refused to undergo an abortion following which he had also refused to conduct one. Harpreet had been taken to a private nursing home at Kartarpur where the abortion was conducted. Dr Sohal had been
cross-examined earlier also and the next date for hearing has been fixed for August 25. All accused, including Bibi Jagir Kaur, Dalwinder Kaur
Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur, personal security incharge Nishan Singh, servants Harwinder Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar and maidservant Satya Devi, were present in the court. |
Political parties wooing SCs Bathinda, August 11 For this task, the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab has been contemplating introducing various welfare scheme for that section of the electorate before the announcement of dates for the general assembly elections on the other hand, Mr Kanshi Ram, BSP, president has been camping in Punjab and holding rallies to keep the party’s vote bank, which comprises Dalits and backward classes, intact. The state Congress leadership is not sitting idle and has been striving hard to send a message to Dalits and backward classes that only the Congress is their true representative and can protect their cause. In the past few weeks the Dalits and backward class people have started feeling they are in great demand and have not been allowing any political party to consider them as their vote bank. However, the state Congress leadership has decided not to allow the Scheduled Castes and backward classes to be fooled by any party which has failed to protect their interests. Mr Jasbir Singh, chairman of the backward classes cell of the PPCC, while talking to TNS today said meetings with the Scheduled Castes and backward classes were being held at grassroots level to know their problem so that a solution could be found before the Congress came to power in Punjab. He pointed out the Congress never indulged in caste-based politics and it always made efforts to bring social equality by uplifting those who belonged to downtrodden sections of society. He added that in the past four and a half years, the Scheduled Castes had been cheated on the pretext of various welfare schemes. He said it had been decided by the state leadership that backward class people would be given representation in the block, district and state-level party units. He added that all demands of backward class people would figure in the party’s manifesto to be released on the eve of the coming assembly elections. He claimed backward classes people never distanced themselves from the Congress nor they would do so in future. He added the Congress always protected the interests of backward classes and this was the main reason why Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, BSP leader Kanshi Ram and other leaders had failed to win their heart. Mr Jasbir Singh, who is general secretary of the PPCC, said in the last week of October a rally of backward classes would be held at Sangrur which would be attended by central leaders apart from the PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh. He said block and district level units of the backward classes cell of the party would be set up by the end of this month.  |
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BSP cashing
in on caste issue: Cong Bathinda, August 11 Mr Kalyan while talking to mediapersons here yesterday said the Dalits were being misled by the so-called well-wishers of the downtrodden. The Bahujan Samaj Party chief, Mr Kanshi Ram, was selling the votes of Dalits to gain political mileage and his party had no political ideology for uplifting the Dalits. Mr Ram Vilas Paswan was no way better than the BSP leaders and the party floated by him was promoting casteism, he alleged. Mr Kalyan said the SAD-BJP government was making false claims of uplifting the Dalits and the downtrodden. The government claimed free books and scholarships were being given to the Dalit students, but the formalities to get the same made the schemes useless. The government was claiming that it had given free plots to the Dalits, but if they were unable to construct a house within three years the plot had to be returned to the government. It was a mockery as the Dalits would not be able to construct the house in three years and most of the plots would have to be returned, he alleged. He said free power to the farmers would be continued if the Congress came to power and efforts would be made that the benefits of these schemes reach the marginal farmers also. Most of the benefits of the schemes had been “cashed” in on by the big farmers and the marginal ones were still devoid of the benefits, he alleged. Giving hint of the political alliances, he said the Congress was ready to have alliances with all secular parties. Corruption in the state government would be the main issue for the coming Assembly elections. Differences among party persons were removed and the party had faith in the senior leadership, he said. The economy of the state was in a bad shape and the farming sector had been reeling in severe debt. Farmers and the youth of the state had been committing suicides and the policies of the government had failed to generate employment opportunities in the state, he alleged. Mr Kalyan said the ruling alliance had failed on all fronts and now to win over the traders they were stating that octroi would be abolished. |
PPCC chief’s warning on indiscipline Chandigarh, August 11 Mr Sant Ram Singla, chairman of the Media Committee of the party, in a statement here today said that Capt Amarinder Singh had issued the warning in the light of a statement issued by Mr Moti Lal Vora, Treasurer of the AICC, that no one in the party would be allowed to indulge in anti-party activities. In fact, cases of violation of party discipline have been brought to the notice of Capt Amarinder Singh by the President of the Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Devinder Singh Babbu. Mr Babbu had yesterday suspended the presidents of the three districts of the Youth Congress. They were Mr Ravinder Amla (Ferozepore), Mr Narinder Bhularia (Bathinda) and Mr Narinder Singh Patti (Amritsar). Mr Babbu said here today that they had been served with a show cause notices to explain their position within 10 days. Meanwhile, the PPCC today announced the formation of its campaign committee for the coming assembly elections. It includes Mr R.L. Bhatia, Mr Santokh Singh Randhawa, Mr Harcharan Singh Brar, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mr M.S. Gill, Mr Varinder Kataria, Mr Hans Raj Sharma, Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, Mr Brahm Mohindra, Mr Harnek Singh Gharuan, Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, Mr Gurcharan Singh Dadhahoor and Mrs Amarjit Kaur. |
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Plea to Badal for action against Mann Sangrur, August 11 Talking to The Tribune over the phone this afternoon, Mr Bachi said Mr Mann had supported Mr Darshan Singh ‘Majhi’, general secretary of the Sangrur district unit of the Congress, the recently held elections of the Sangrur Central Cooperative Bank for the posts of the Director. He said Mr Majhi had contested against him in the elections. He also alleged that Mr Mann had also brought the voters to the camp of Mr Majhi on the day of elections for casting vote in favour of Mr Majhi and against him. Mr Bachi added Mr Mann had also presented a ‘siropa’ to Mr Majhi a few days ago at a function in the presence of Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Punjab, at Naraingarh village. He said honouring of Mr Majhi by Mr Mann proved that he was hand-in-glove with Mr Majhi which was an anti-party activity. He also described this act of Mr Mann as a “conspiracy” to give bad name to the party’s image and weaken Mr Parkash Singh Badal. He said despite the acts of Mr Mann, the voters made him (Bachi) win in the recently held elections of the Cooperative Bank and strengthened the position of the SAD. Mr Bachi also recalled the elections of Sangrur Central Cooperative Bank, held in 1996, in which he had faced a defeat at the hands of Mr Majhi. Mr Bachi alleged that in 1996, Mr Mann also helped Mr Majhi to emerge winner. He said he had also opposed the anti-party activities of Mr Mann at that time. |
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Partap Singh
made dist SAD chief Jalandhar, August 11 Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, Secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal, in a press note issued here, stated that the party had accepted the recommendations of three-member committee comprising Mr Tota Singh, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan and Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, all ministers, set up by party President Parkash Singh Badal to end factionalism in the district unit. The committee in its report submitted to the party chief last month recommended that Mr Partap Singh be nominated district president. The statement further said Mr Partap Singh should release the list of office-bearers and executive committee members within 15 days. |
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Mohi is
convener of Cong SC cell Chandigarh, August 11 |
Cong decries BJP’s friendly bias to MNCs Jalandhar, August 11 Mr Mina, who was in the city to review party preparations for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, talking to reporters, alleged that central government’s recent decision to reduce its share in Public Sector Units (PSUs) had virtually rendered hundreds of small labourers jobless. The Central Government had been pursuing the hidden agenda to suit its own vested interests, he added. “You see, the process of liberalisation initiated by Dr Manmohan Singh during Congress regime was limited to select foreign investment in particular areas and basically linked to the uplift of weaker sections of the society. We cannot think about globalisation without protecting the interests of weaker sections and small farmers since agriculture sector is the backbone of the Indian economy. But, the BJP government has failed to improve the state of peasants and unorganised sector due to its more friendly approach towards multinationals”, Mr Mina said. He added that the Congress would unveil the true face of BJP leaders before the people of the country, who had been embroiled with many scandals, including Tehelka expose, UTI scam. Deliberating upon the chances of the Congress retaining power in Punjab in the forthcoming Assembly elections, he said, “I have visited different parts of the state and it is found that the people of the state has already rejected the SAD-BJP government for its anti-people approach. The government had miserably failed to maintain the tempo of development in the past four years of its rule. The farmers are being forced to commit suicide as the agriculture sector has become unviable due to indifferent approach of the state government.” Mr Mohinder Singh Kaypee, a former Punjab Education Minister, alleged that the politicians belonging to ruling combine were interfering into the ongoing selection process of JBT teachers throughout the state, which was evident from the fact that those varsity experts, who refused to succumb to their pressures, while selecting candidates for Nawanshahr and Jalandhar districts had been replaced by the Vice-Chancellor without specifying any reason. The candidates were harassed by the Jalandhar Selection Committee as the merit list was not displayed at the venue of the interview since the start of interview on August 9 in violation of court’s directions in this regard, Mr Kaypee alleged. Mr Kaypee urged the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take suo motu notice of the media reports to save the future of hundreds of deserving candidates. |
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Justice
eludes Bathinda trader Bathinda, August 11 Mr Bansal, who was well off, turned poor overnight when the paddy and rice laying in his rice mill, located near Goniana Mandi, which was taken on lease by him along with some other persons was forcibly lifted by the district Punsup authorities. Mr Bansal said he had been running from pillar to post to get an FIR registered against the Punsup authorities for lifting paddy and rice stock lying in the mill forcibly since them. He added he had met the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal State Science and Technology Minister Chiranjit Lal Garg and state Power Minister, Sikander Singh Malooka in this connection. Narrating his tale of woe, Mr Bansal said he was running a rice mill which the had taken on lease at Goniana Mandi. The Punsup authorities in March 1999 lifted paddy and rice worth Rs 65 lakh from his factory premises without any valid ground in connivance with certain district officials. He pointed out he was not liable to deliver and paddy or rice stock to Punsup authorities. The Punsup authorities were to take paddy and rice stock from another firm which ran the rice mill in
previous years. He said he met various officers of the Punjab Government but nobody ever tried to give a patient ear to his grievances. After the incident which took place in March 1999, he became a heart patient and
became unable to keep the kitchen fires burning. He added he had also been finding it difficult to marry his five daughters. Information gathered by TNS revealed the Punsup authorities allegedly lifted the paddy and rice stock forcibly after breaking open the locks of the factory gate. The locks were put on the factory gate by the Goniana branch of the State Bank of Patiala which had given Mr Bansal and others Rs 25 lakh as loan for running their business. Information revealed that the then police authorities failed to register any FIR against the Punsup authorities despite the fact that an application was moved to the Station House Officer (SHO), Nahianwala police station by the management of the State Bank of Patiala. The bank management when contacted declined to make any comment on this issue. When this correspondent insisted a senior functionary of the bank said they victims of
high-handedness of the Punsup authorities and than the police authorities. Mr Bansal said now he had been feeling fed up with the life he had been leading. He demanded that stern action should be taken against those officials who were guilty and the Punjab Government should give him suitable compensation so that he could rehabilitate himself. Mr H.S. Sandhu, who was district manager of Punsup Bathinda when the paddy was lifted, when contacted at his Ludhiana-based residence said the Punsup authorities never broke the locks of the factory gate as alleged by the State Bank of Patiala management. |
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Sirhind
residents hold night vigil Fatehgarh Sahib, August 11 The parents of the deceased, who are NRIs, close friends and residents of the town are not ready to digest that the crime was the handiwork of a migrant gang. They consider it to be a well-planned murder. The parents say two small children were the only survivors in the family and they cannot give authentic information about the incident. The parents of Devinder Sharma said he was very religious person and associated with all social organisations of the town. They said they
didn't suspect anyone. Two of their rooms had been locked by the police. No police official had visited their residence since. Rather the two securitymen deployed at their residence had been withdrawn. When asked the SSP about the progress of the case, he said the police wanted to interrogate the servants of the deceased. |
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DCs directed to help
women victims Amritsar, August 11 Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, BJP MLA and president of the organisation, said since 1998, of the total 1,893 cases registered in the office of the kendra, 1,615 cases were settled without any legal aid. She said about 50 per cent girls or women were victims of domestic violence and had suffered mental harassment at the hands of their families and society. Ms Anand Gauba, executive member of the organisation, said a woman did not have her own identity. Before marriage she was a daughter and after it she was a wife. She said women were held in high esteem but in reality she was discriminated against right from her birth. Tests for sex determination decided her fate. Constant fall in the number of females vis-a-vis males in India was a proof of this tendency. Crime against women was on the rise, she said. Ms Sangeeta complained that she had been burnt by her husband, who was drunk, in 1991 when she refused to fulfil his demand for dowry. She said she had not been allowed to move out of her house for three days and no medical aid given to her as she wanted to file a case against her husband. Her sisters-in-law informed her parents that their daughter had burnt herself after losing her mental balance. The Governor released a book ‘Anhad Naad’ written by Dr Indu Verma, a programme executive at Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar. Ms Vimal Bassi, convener of the organisation said a new chapter should be opened regarding women’s rights. She urged the authorities to enforce laws regarding women effectively, she said. |
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More needle destroyers for hospital Patiala, August 11 The hospital, which has nearly a 1100-bed facility, surprisingly has only 12 needle destroyers installed at the most needed places till now. Even these needle destroyers have made their appearance lately, with doctors and para medical staff usually to manually destroying the needles and syringes. Recycling of syringes and other surgical equipment, including gloves, has been a big problem in the hospital. People have been flocking the garbage dump of the hospital in the past to collect needles, syringes and gloves, besides other things, which can be recycled. Due to this problem, the hospital had gone in for needle destroyers. Under the new scheme, the hospital has decided to purchase a large number of needle destroyers. Officials say around 40 more needle destroyers are being purchased with every ward and outpatient department to be equipped with them. Staff injecting injections will have to put the needle in the identified slot, where it will be heated and then cut away by pressing a lever with one hand. Sources say it will require a lot of training and patience by the hospital authorities to make the staff use the equipment regularly. They say even the 12 units installed in the hospital are not being used to their optimum. “Old habits die hard’’, say an official, adding that the staff is being trained and are also being given special lectures to ensure they destroy all syringes used in the hospital. Doctors in the emergency wing say some of the needle destroyers received by them are not working properly. They say it should be ensured that the new equipment is up to the mark. Sources say a central facility could also be created in the form of a shredding machine to destroy all syringes and other equipment of recycle value used in the hospital. This proposal has not met with favour by the authorities due to the cost of the machinery. Officials disclose that the hospital has now started burying biomedical waste which is infective in character, including blades, needles and syringes. They say this is being done in order to conform to pollution norms on biodegradable medical waste. They say anatomical waste and blades, syringes and needles are being buried in a special pit. They add that other hospital waste is also classified in different categories and tackled accordingly. The hospital has still not started using the incinerator established on its premises to tackle the problem of medical waste and it has to be picked up by the Municipal Corporation. Sources say the problem is now being taken up at the government level and the Punjab Pollution Control Board is also thinking on the lines of common facilities for disposing of the medical waste in the major cities. |
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Martyr
cremated Rajpura, August 11 He is survived by his wife, Paramjit Kaur, and three
children. Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Minister of Local Bodies, Army
officers, Mr R.K. Sharma, DSP, of Rajpura, Mr Bhupinder Singh, SDM,
and Mr Trilochan Dev, of Municipal President, were among those who
paid homage to the martyr. |
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Training
camp for granthis Fatehgarh Sahib, August 11 Addressing the training camp Prof Manjit Singh, head granthi Takht Keshgarh Sahib urged the
granthis, dhadis and the preachers to educate the public specially the youth in their gurdwaras on female foeticide and its implications as and on impacts of drugs and disrespect to women in our society. He urged them to relate this aspect with the Sikh maryada by quoting from Gurbani
“So Kiyon Manda Akhiye, Jit Jamme Rajan”. He said it was unfortunate that present religious preachers had failed to give any direction to society and caution people about the impact of such evils. He said that the religion had lost relevance, if it did not talk, discuss and solve problems of mankind. He said that this problem could be overcome if birth of girl child was celebrated like that of the male child. He said that mother should not be blamed for the birth of a girl child. Women have to play an important role to control this menace he added. He said a meeting of heads of various religions would be called soon, to associate them with campaign against female foeticide. Mr Manmohan Sharma, President of the Association, said that the training programme would be conducted in the entire state under the patronage of Akal Takht. Prof Manjit Singh said that if alleged foeticide by Bibi Jagir Kaur of her daughter’s issue was proved, the action would be taken according to tradition and maryada of Akal Takht. He refused to comment on the declaration made by Bhai Ranjit Singh, former Jathedar Akal Takht that he would excommunicate Mr Badal, Mr Manjit Singh and Mr Barjinder Singh by saying ‘May sense prevail upon him’. Dr Mira Shiva, senior coordinator voluntary health association of India also addressed. |
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City gets facelift for CM’s visit Bathinda, August 11 Official sources said funds had been released for the beautification of the city which would include tree plantation and drainage of rainwater. A private agency would be hired for the purpose, the sources said. Roads are being cleaned, streetlights repaired, garbage heaps lifted, stagnant water drained out while stray animals are being sent to “captivity” by the municipal authorities. Posters defacing the city are being removed and streetlight poles painted. Sand, which covers almost half of the total width of the roads in the city, is being removed and tractor-trailers, besides labour have been hired for the purpose. Mr Garish Arora, a businessman, said this kind of “efficiency” of the authorities was not seen even when elections were nearing. This kind of drive was not even launched when the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, visited the district in 1998 to lay the foundation stone of an oil refinery. A resident said the sangat darshan was meant to distribute grants for various development works which had been progressing at a snail’s pace in the past four years. This was another way of purchasing votes, he alleged. Mr Shiv Kumar Mittal, Executive Officer of the municipal council said the council had placed garbage bins at about 30 points in the city and additional labour had been engaged temporarily for sanitation works. Six tractor-trailers had been pressed into service along with a machine to remove sand from the roads. Mr Mittal denied that the beautification drive was in any way linked to the sangat darshan of the Chief Minister. “Work is going in as usual,” he asserted. |
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FCI staff threaten to go on fast Bathinda, August 11 Mr Gian Chand Bansal, press secretary of the union, in a press note issued here today said the union took this decision after the management failed to redress their grievances, despite the fact they had held demonstrations at various places in the past few months. He alleged that the management had been victimising the employees by carrying out their dismissals, imposing heavy penalties on them, reverting them and making recoveries from them on unjustified grounds. He said a delegation of the union had also met the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, yesterday to apprise him of the situation and take necessary action in this connection. He added that Mr Shanta Kumar had assured the delegation that he would look into the matter. Mr Bansal said if the FCI management failed to take corrective measures, the union would intensify its agitation and would go on a strike. He said the FCI management had not laid down norms for storage and transient losses and how could it then take action against the employees on arbitrary grounds. |
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Tipnis visits
IAF station at Bhisiana Bathinda, August 11 In a press note issued here today, Mr Maya Ram, Flight Lieutenant, Air Force Station, Bhisiana, said Mr Tipnis, accompanied by his wife, visited the station yesterday. A contingent of airmen and officers presented a guard of honour to Mr Tipnis who visited various units and formations at the air base. He also flew a sortie in the MIG aircraft. Mr Tipnis said though the station had a legacy of taking up the toughest tasks, but they could not afford to rejoice on the past glory when our neighbours continued to forment troubles. |
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Phone
service in poor shape Gurdaspur Telephone faults are frequent. The situation worsens during the rains. When one visits the telephone exchange premises in the morning, one usually finds a number of subscribers requesting the area officials concerned to set faults right. Often faults are not rectified for days together. Subscribers also complain about inflated telephone bills. Besides, bills at times are received after the due date for payment or just on that day. Cases of wrong number calls are numerous. These are often the result of problems at the exchange. There is an automatic system of registration of complaints at the exchange. However, the system, too, is faulty. Enquiries reveal that many numbers have not been fed into this system. Telephone faults are often not attended to in the normal course with the registration of complaints on the automatic system. Many subscribers have to go personally to the exchange to request officials to redress their grievances. There have been reports of money changing hands to ensure that complaints are dealt with on priority. There are also cases where telephone numbers have been issued but the instruments have not yet been installed. Official sources, however, say that the main cause of delay in rectifying faults is staff shortage. Fresh recruitment has not been made for a long time in spite of the increase in the workload. The wires provided to the exchange for installing telephones are also not up to the mark, leading to a rise in the number of faults. |
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CM’s greetings
on Janmashtami Chandigarh, August 11 In a message, Mr Badal said Lord Krishna was an apostle of peace, love and human. He urged people to celebrate the festival collectively. Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala has also extended his greetings to
Janmashtami. Boy taking
part in shobha yatra killed Phagwara, August 11 Hailing from Mohalla Anand Nagar, he was sitting on the edge of the trailer when he got a jerk and fell down. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. |
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Contest
on
de-addiction held Bathinda, August 11 Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, said the police was leaving no stone unturned to make the district drug-free. Various functions, debates, declamation and poster-making contests and drug de-addiction camps were being organised, he said. More than 12 schools of the city participated in the function. An exhibition and a camp were also organised. Twentyfive drug-addicts were given medicines free of cost. Dr Jain said the police had organised 30 such camps at various places till date. It would establish a de-addiction cell here. A record of the drug-addicts under treatment would be maintained at the cell so that they were supplied de-addiction medicines regularly, he said. Following students stood first in the declamation competition in the English, Hindi and Punjabi groups, respectively — Jyoti Mukharji (St Josephs Convent School), Neha Puri (DAV Public School), and Amitej Dhaliwal (Baba Farid Public School). |
Farmers asked to change crop pattern Nabha, August 11 The Chief Secretary further added that more than 270 lakh tonnes of foodgrains were lying in the godowns of Punjab. |
Team gives report on
cracks in buildings Sunam, August 11 The team comprised Mr Praneet Bhardwaj, SDM, Sunam and Mr G.C. Mithu, Xen (B&R), Provincial Division, Sangrur. The Deputy Commissioner had ordered the team to submit its report regarding losses by August 10. The team accompanied by assistants, including revenue officials and technical experts, conducted a door-to-door survey of the damaged buildings and shops on August 7. It noted the nature, structure and quality of material used. It also etched drawings of the damaged buildings. Mr Bhardwaj said the committee had submitted its report to the Deputy Commissioner yesterday. The team had also mentioned in its report the reparable and irreparable area of each building. The nature, structure and quality of material used in the construction of each building had also been mentioned in the report, he added. Mr Bhardwaj further said the expenses on the reparable portions as well as the irreparable ones would be calculated by the PWD as per their norms. The affected residents were crying for early disbursement of the relief so that they could re-construct before the winter season. Mr Gurcharan Singh Channi, vice-president of the municipal council of Sunam, in whose ward the tubewell was being sunk, which in turn had led to seepage, assured the aggrieved families would get suitable relief package from the Punjab Government very soon. |
3 get life term for rape, murder Hoshiarpur, August 11 The Garhshanker police had registered a case under Sections 302 and 376, IPC, on November 19, 1999. According to the FIR, the 17-year-old girl, a student of plus I of DAV College, Garhshanker, went to get training in judo karate on November 18, 1999 at 5 a.m. but did not return home. According to the FIR, Jaswinder Pal forcibly took her on his scooter to some fields where he raped her. Later, he along with the other accused murdered her and threw the body on the road near Government School at Birampur village. On the
complaint of Ms Kanta Rani Sarpanch, and Swarn Singh of Birampur village the police registered a case. |
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ASI suspended for
forging record Jalandhar, August 11 Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said here yesterday that ASI Rachpal Singh, who earlier was posted at Goraya, had forged the record by writing a false statement under Section 161, Cr PC, of a dead person, Kartar Singh. An
inquiry had found him guilty and a case was registered under Sections
218, 468 and 471, IPC. He has been suspended and a departmental
inquiry ordered against him. |
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Field officer caught taking bribe Jalandhar, August 11 Mr Varinder Kumar, SP, Jalandhar zone, said Jeet Kaur of Boot village in Kapurthala complained yesterday that though she had applied for a loan of Rs 50,000 to set up a grocery shop about two months ago but the corporation officials delayed the sanctioning of the loan on one pretext or the other. She came in contact of Rajinder Singh, Field Officer, who assured that he would remove all discrepancies in her loan file and demanded Rs 1000 as bribe. He further said a trap was laid to catch the accused red-handed and a special vigilance party was deputed in this regard. Subsequently, Rajinder Singh was caught accepting Rs 1000 and marked currency notes were recovered from him. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered. |
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Man killed as truck hits scooter Dhuri, August 11 According to police sources, Hans Raj, employed as a constable in the Punjab police, was posted as security guard with DSP Malerkotla. The body was handed over to his relatives today after a post-mortem examination at the local Civil Hospital. The police has impounded the vehicle and registered a case under Sections 304A and 427 of the IPC against the truck driver. According to reports, a deep road curve on the Sangrur bypass, where the accident occurred, is the most accident-prone area in the town. Residents of the town have expressed concern over the increasing number of accidents. They have demanded that permanent barricades or traffic lights be installed at the Sangrur bypass as well as at other accident-prone areas of the town. |
Nabha college merged
with Patiala institute Patiala, August 11 Even as teachers of the Nabha unit have threatened to start a Sanskrit Chetna Abhiyan at the district and tehsil level to highlight the need of retaining the institution in Nabha, the local institution feels giving it a new name after the merger is a sham as the institution continues to function in a dilapidated building which has long outlived its utility. A visit to the “‘new” Institute of Oriental and Indian Languages revealed the front portion of the building could collapse anytime resulting in casualties. The front portion of the building, which earlier used to house the Old Sadar Police station, still has people functioning from it. This includes the Principal’s office which is no longer occupied by him. The staircases leading to the first floor are also unsafe. Local Mahavidyala sources said they would be glad to accommodate the teachers of the Nabha institute but they must be provided with a new building. Institute Principal K. R. Sharma disclosed though the matter had been brought to the notice of the authorities no action had been taken. He said even Higher Education Minister Master Mohan Lal had written to the administration that the building should be inspected and till it was repaired the college should be shifted to the Working Women’s Hostel on the Sirhind road which was lying vacant. Meanwhile, it is not only the building of the institute which is a cause of concern. Sources said the attitude of the government towards the development of Sanskrit was the main reason why the Nabha institute had been closed down and even the courses conducted by the Patiala college was not attracting students. They said the government had closed down the Nabha institute mainly because it did not have a building of its own and it was not attracting any students whose strength had been reduced. However, teachers of the Nabha institute, including Mr Gopal Krishan and Mr Nigam Swarup, said the college had enrolled 24 students out of which 14 took the final examinations conducted by Punjabi University. They said the number of students taking up Sanskrit had reduced because the job opportunities were very less. They said while Haryana was conducting a course in Oriental training which helped students who had taken up the Shastri course to get jobs as schoolteachers, there was no such training course in Punjab. Similarly, they said the course could also become popular if the government reserved seats in B.Ed courses in various universities for students who had done courses in Shastri, Prabhakar or Gyani. Both the colleges were running courses in Prak Shastri — one and two, Shastri – one , two and three besides Prabhakar courses. The Nabha college was established in 1910 by Maharaja Hira Singh and had been taken over by Pepsu and then the Punjab Government and was presently functioning from a rented building. The Patiala college, according to its Principal K. R. Sharma, was established in 1860 by Maharaja Narinder Singh. He said the college had first functioned from Mohindra College before being shifted out . He said the college was renamed the Government Institute of Oriental and Modern Indian Languages, Patiala, in 1963 but its affiliation continued as Government Sanskrit Vidyala due to administrative reasons. He said a similar name had been given to the institution again which was virtually being treated as a school by it even though it had been affiliated to Calcutta University way back in 1874. |
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