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Bhakra level not alarming for Punjab: PSEB Patiala, June 12 Experts give two reasons for the alarming decrease in the water level. First was the late snow received in the higher reaches and the second was the absence of a heat wave. They said April and May did not see any intense heat wave and June saw pre-monsoon rain due to which snow melting was still to take place in the real sense of the word. They said snow melting was at least 30 to 35 per cent less this year as compared to the corresponding period last year. This they said was why the water level in the reservoir had fallen by as much as 100 feet this year. Sources said yesterday the discharge was 20,000 cusecs, which was more than the inflow of 15,860. Meanwhile, Board Member, Distribution, H.C. Sood, said though every unit of power was important for the state its reliance on Bhakra power was minimal. “At present we are only getting 90 lakh units from the Bhakra while our total consumption is 1,200 lakh units”, he said, adding that a further drop in the supply of power from the Bhakra would not have much impact on the state. Mr Sood said the state was buying a considerable amount of power even as thermal generation continued to be its mainstay. “We are producing 450 lakh units of power from our thermal plants besides getting power from the state hydel projects also”. He went on to say that the board was tying up with agencies to ensure adequate supply of power during the next two months. The PSEB has tied up for supply of 200 MW of power from Andhra Pradesh, which has promised another 200 MW in case the monsoon spell in the state lasts longer. Besides, Capt Amarinder Singh has approached the Rajasthan atomic power agency for supply of 140 MW. The board is also looking forward to the start of supply of 100 MW of power from the Nathpa Jhakra power project. The PSEB has a 7 per cent stake in the project and the sources said it could start getting 100 MW of power in the coming days. |
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GNDTP units being renovated Bathinda, June 12 Official sources said the unit two had already been shutdown for carrying out major renovation and modernisation works. The existing boiler of the unit two had already been dismantled and a new boiler of modern design was being erected. The unit would be ready for commissioning by November. The sources said all four units of 110 MW capacity each, which were commissioned between 1974 to 1979, had outlived their designed lifespan of 25 years. Each of these four units had run 1,60,000 hours against designed life of 1,00,000 hours. The Chief Engineer of the GNDTP, Mr Luthra, said the two units of the GNDTP would be renovated and modernised at a cost of Rs 229 crore. The work on the unit two had been going while the work on the unit one would start after the work on the unit two was completed. Under the renovation and modernisation exercise, the old boilers of each unit would be replaced with the boilers of modified design, new protection and monitoring systems would be provided, turbines would be modified new electrostatic precipitator (ESP) field would be added, he pointed out. He said though all units had outlived their designed lives, these were performing remarkably well as compared to the contemporary units installed in the country. The GNDTP had won number of meritorious productivity awards and cash prizes in the past 25 years. The GNDTP helped in bringing an industrial revolution in Punjab, it proved itself as of no use for the residents of the town as they have been experiencing unscheduled and unannounced power cuts and coal ash rain due to heavy and large emission from its chimneys, which have become a major source of health hazard. All four units of the
GNDTP, the first thermal power station of the state, also failed the farmers of this region number of times. Mr Luthra claimed that by the end of March, 2007, all four units of the GNDTP would be renovated and modernised in a phased manner to make them environmental friendly by bringing the level of emission from chimneys to lowest. He added that project report for carrying out the renovation and modernisation of the units number three and four had been cleared by the PSEB and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). He said in the unit number three and four, the PSEB had already installed Flue Gas Conditioning System and it had resulted in the reduction in emission level from its respective chimneys. |
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PSEB posts profit after years Patiala, June 12 An official release here said the Ludhiana zone had collected the most revenue of Rs 1,879 crore till March this year against a revenue generation of Rs 1,647 crore in the year before last. The release said south zone comprising the Patiala Sangrur, Ropar and Mohali areas had collected a revenue of Rs 1421 crore in the last financial year compared to Rs 1,261 crore collected in the year before last. Similarly in the north zone comprising Kapurthala, Jalandhar,
Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr areas, the board had collected a revenue of Rs 902 crore as against only Rs 788 crore collected in the year before last. |
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No water to sow paddy Malout (Muktsar), June 12 There was already a shortage of irrigation water to sow paddy in villages of Malout subdivision. The decision of putting the Abohar branch canal in the B grade has made matters worse. Due to the shortage of irrigation water, thousands of farmers in the subdivision have not been able to sow paddy, while the crop of those who managed to do so has been damaged for lack of adequate water. Paddy may not be sown in at least 1 lakh acres in the subdivision. While the Sirhind feeder passing through the subdivision is near empty, almost all rajbahas (mini-canals) emerging from the Abohar branch of the Sirhind feeder are dry. Farmers of the nearby Channu and Khuddian villages are drawing water using motors of their tractors from the near empty Sirhind feeder on the Malout-Dabwali road. A farmer of Channu village, Gurpreet Singh, told TNS that the Teona rajbaha, from where their fields got irrigation water, were dry for the past several weeks. Farmers allege that contrary to claims of PSEB officials regarding providing electricity for at least eight hours a day, power was being supplied for only two to three hours. The Doda, Malout, Lal Bahi and Burj Sidhwan rajbahas are also dry. A prominent farmer of Aulakh village, Dr H.S. Khurana, who gets irrigation water from the Doda rajbah, told TNS that the rajbaha had been dry for over a month now. Most of the farmers had not sown paddy, he said. Farmers Lakhwinder Singh and Gurbax Singh of Badian village, and Rajinder Kumar and Satpal Singh of Aulakh village demanded that the Abohar branch canal, from where most of the rajbahas of Malout subdivision emerge, should be kept under the A grade, which could solve the water shortage problem. The Abohar Executive Engineer, Irrigation (Canal), Mr S.C. Garg, under whose jurisdiction most of the parts of Muktsar district, including Malout subdivision fall, admitted that there was an acute shortage of water in the area. However, he attributed it to a low level of water in the Pong Dam. Mr Garg said the water level in the Pong Dam was 17 ft below the level on the same day last year. The Executive Engineer said the priority of the department was to provide drinking water to residents and hence it had stopped all irrigation supply. |
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Rise above party politics to solve SYL issue: Gill Chandigarh, June 12 Reposing on a sofa set in the Sector 35 residence of his relative Major-Gen Himmat Singh Gill after attending a meeting on the SYL issue, Mr Gill asserts, "Efforts are on to make Punjab out of Rajasthan, while the state owning the rivers is being converted into a desert". Giving details of the water issue, he says, "In 1960, Punjab was given 15.8 million acre feet. Out of it a major portion was gifted to Rajasthan. The authorities there have carried the water right up to Gujarat border. They have even lifted the water to higher levels for irrigating areas like Jodhpur, while Punjab is facing problems". Referring to a Yale University book on Indus basin printed way back in 1960, he asserts, "There are clear indications in the book that Rajasthan soil cannot sustain heavy irrigation due to its peculiar nature". He adds, "In any case political parties in and out of power all over the country should come together for resolving the matter. Statesmanship at the highest level is required". Waving his determined hand, Mr Gill says, "For once, national parties should rise above the level of their own political differences. Instead of scoring points over each other, they should come out with a reasonable time-bound solution that is favourable to all. In the process they should take into confidence the masses at large, with the Prime Minister's assistance". He adds, "The need of the hour is to maintain cool and rational thinking. After all, residents on either side of the border are brothers living in united Punjab before the division". Describing the problem as "politico-legal", Mr Gill says, "Everywhere in the world, water disputes are resolved at the highest political levels through statesmanship because such matters are not merely legal in nature". Further on, he adds, "I am certainly not criticising the Supreme Court judgement, but after taking into consideration the Rajiv-Longowal accord, the court says that the work of constructing the link should be completed. The decision regarding water would be taken subsequently. But what if the Eradi Commission looking into the matter comes to the conclusion that the water is not to be released? Otherwise also, the Apex Court was too harsh on the state". Coming down heavily on the commissions appointed for looking into all such matters, he says, "The members go on and on for decades together without offering any solution. For instance, the Eradi Commission was appointed in 1985. The matter has been still hanging fire". Dismissing it as rumours, Mr Gill denies being in race for Punjab Chief Minister's post. |
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Chief
Secretary seeks records
of govt men in BBMB Ropar, June 12 The record has been summoned to settle the controversy created by the recent orders of the Personnel Department. The department in a letter issued on March 31 had directed all departments of Punjab to direct their employees having three years of service left to get themselves relieved from the BBMB and report back to their parent departments. The letter has also directed the BBMB against paying any additional allowance to employees of Punjab posted in the organisation after 1996. Earlier also the department had issued a similar letter directing the department concerned to withdraw all their employees from the BBMB who had either completed five years of service in the organisation or have two years of service left. The employees had given representations to the Punjab Government in this regard. The Finance Department then realised that besides retaining control over the vital irrigation and power project, the state was saving about Rs 11 crore annually in salaries due to its employees in the BBMB. The move to withdraw them was then dropped. The only dispute regarding the Punjab Government employees in the BBMB was that they were paid the PSEB scales while serving the organisation. The Personnel Department has objected that the Punjab Government employees get entitled to higher pension due to their higher last pay drawn from the BBMB. However, BBMB sources stated that the issue of pension to Punjab Government employees has been settled by the Supreme Court. In a judgement it had clearly ruled that only the Punjab Government employees working in BBMB before 1966 were entitled for last-pay drawn pensions. The remaining employees would be paid pension as per their scales. |
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Call to boycott Chandok for honouring Tytler Amritsar, June 12 In a communication to the Akal Takht secretariat, Mr Babbar expressed shock that the Sikh clergy had failed to take suo motu action against Mr Chandok for presenting a siropa (robe of honour) to Mr Tytler. He said various reports on the riots compiled by non-Sikhs had indicted Mr Tytler and Mr Sajjan Kumar. However, Mr Chandok refuted the charge that he had presented a siropa to Mr Tytler . He said anything given in a place other than a gurdwara could not be described as a siropa. He said the DSGMC would issue a circular to Sikh organisations that nobody should present a siropa in social gatherings . It is learnt that Mr Tarlochan Singh , Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, has spoken to the Akal Takht Jathedar and told him that it was wrong to call it a siropa, since the occasion was a social function. However, Mr Babbar said his organisation would mobilise victims of the riots and would expose the Akal Takht Jathedar before the Sikh Sangat during the general elections of the shiromani committee. |
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Students resent delay in announcing exam date Jalandhar, June 12 The candidates said the delay in conducting the test could have an adverse effect, as their session would be delayed by almost a month this time. They said it was on the same day that the Punjab Government had declared that the PTU would conduct engineering entrance test and Punjabi University would conduct MBA/MCA entrance test. While the PTU had conducted the test and even declared its result yesterday, Punjabi University was yet to announce the schedule of the entrance examination, they rued as they flayed the latter for delaying the process. While earlier it had been declared by Punjabi University that the entrance test to be conducted for nearly 2,500 seats of its own Guru Nanak Dev University and over 23 colleges of PTU would be conducted in June, but now the university officials revealed that they were planning to hold the test on July 18. Officials of the Admission Cell of Punjabi University had earlier finalised July 11 as the date of the test but since SGPC elections have been scheduled on the same day, it is likely to be postponed by a week. During the recent academic council meeting of the PTU, it had been declared that the new session would begin on July 26 but it will be impossible for the university to begin its classes for MBA and MCA students. If the test will be held on July 18, university officials will take at least a month to declare result and arrange group discussion, interview and counselling. Even the Directors of PTU colleges are much disappointed over the delayed schedule. They said meritorious students of the state had already started taking admission in colleges of other states through MAT and CAT tests. As a result, they would be losing on quality of students taking admission in their colleges, they added. The Directors have condemned the decision of the Punjab Government to pass off the responsibility to Punjabi University. They said the PTU should have been entrusted with the job as the authorities here were experienced enough to conduct the entrance tests. The faculty of Apeejay Institute, Jalandhar, said the college had been receiving numerous inquiries daily but since they did not have any information, they simply tell the students to keep in touch. Last year, the entire admission process that was conducted by the PTU had been completed by mid-July but this time even the test schedule had not come till date, he rued. Citing reason for the delay, Dr S.S. Boparai, Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, said the state government had delayed the dispatch of notification to the university, without which they could not advertise for the admission. He said now that he had received it, they could incorporate it in the prospectus that would be printed in a week’s time. |
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Notorious smuggler held Bathinda, June 12 Raj Moddar, who has allegedly been smuggling narcotics in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, was arrested today by the Rampura police and subsequently sent to the Central Jail here for an indefinite period. He was involved in smuggling for the past several years and has been facing a number of criminal cases in different police stations. He was also arrested about four years ago by the Bathinda police in connection with a smuggling case. A heavy quantity of opium was seized from his associates. Raj Moddar, who has allegedly been getting support from politicians of different states, was at presently on bail in a case registered against him at the Sangat police station of this district. The district police authorities have launched proceedings to attach his property. According to police sources, Raj Moddar, who at one time was running a tea stall, became rich over a short span of time through his illegal business. Once his arrest was allegedly thwarted by political pressure. He was arrested on October 8, 2002, and got bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 7, 2003. Allegedly due to certain pressures the police could not extract much information from him regarding the politicians and officials who had been helping him. Mr Devinder Attri, SHO, Rampura, when contacted, said two relatives of Raj Moddar had been arrested a few months ago by the Moga police for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of narcotics. |
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Cancel Pakhoke’s candidature,
says KMC Amritsar, June 12 Mr Harmandip Singh Sarhali, chairman of the KMC, Mr Joginder Singh, president of the Gurmat Prachar Sabha, and Mr Gurdip Singh of the Waheguru Sewa Simran Society, in a joint note issued here today said the two had violated Sikh maryada. They alleged that Mr Pakhoke had been seen with “tilak” on his forehead while Mr Langah had organised a Ramayan path, as such, they should be disqualified. In another press note, the KMC, condemning the custodial death of farmer Jaspal Singh in the Khalra area on June 10, alleged that it was a result of a nexus between the police and commission agents. The commission demanded that next of kin of the deceased must be give Rs 5 lakh. |
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SGPC poll: voters asked to establish identity Chandigarh, June 12 Gurdwara Election Commission Secretary Gurdev Singh said identity could be established by producing identity cards issued under the authority of the Election Commission of India. The voters can also establish their identity by producing any other documents specified by the Election Commission of India in its order dated April 2. Justice Sekhon has further directed that the presiding officers appointed at the polling stations will ensure that only keshdhari voters are allowed to cast votes. Youngsters below the age of 21 will also not be allowed to cast their votes. |
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Panthic Morcha
candidate flays Badal Fatehgarh Sahib, June 12 He said Mr Badal had politicised the religious institution of Sikhs and due to his wrong policies even the highest temporal seat of the Jathedar of Akal Takht had been affected due to his interference. He said Mr Badal had degenerated all principles of Sikhism and of “Miri and Piri”. He said all those, who had great respect for Sikh principles had decided to unite on one platform to defeat Mr Badal. He said it was a matter of great concern that the SGPC ticket had been allotted to those, who don’t fulfil any condition announced by the Jathedar of Akal
Takhat, whereas the Panthic Morcha had given ticket only to those, who fulfil all conditions. Mr Panjoli said all Sikhs should honour the sentiments of the Jathedar of Akal Takht to elect only true Sikh and the candidates should obey his dictates of not distributing liquor and other intoxicants to influence the voters. |
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MC sleeping over manholes’ desiltation Muktsar, June 12 As far as the town is concerned, no work has yet been started for the desiltation of manholes and drains on the Abohar road by the Municipal Council and Public Health Department. Sewage water has already accumulated in the low-lying areas of Gandhi Nagar and Khaddianwali Gali in the past couple of weeks. The situation in these areas and other parts of the city during the monsoon can be imagined. “Sewage water also enters the houses of a number of residents of the locality every now and then,” said Mrs Kamlesh Watts, a resident of Gandhi Nagar locality. Muktsar SDO of Public Health Department Amrik Singh and the President of the Municipal Council, Mr Krishan Kumar Teria, claimed that the desiltation of manholes had been done last year too. Work was still continuing in Gandhi Nagar locality, they added. However, Gandhi Nagar councillor Raman K.P. termed the SDO’s statement a lie. He said a couple of sweepers were sent to the locality only when a number of complaints of accumulation of sewerage water had been made. Mr Teria said a proposal of Rs 94 lakh had already been sent to the Punjab Local Bodies Department for desiltation of the Abohar road drain. In reply to a question, he said he would try to get the money sanctioned and get the desiltation work completed before the monsoon. Deputy Commission Buta Ram Banga could not be contacted to get his version despite repeated attempts. |
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Gastroenteritis outbreak under
control,
says Dogra Hoshiarpur, June 12 He said in Hoshiarpur district 27 fresh cases of gastroenteritis were reported at government hospitals and seven in private nursing homes today. As many as 20 patients were under treatment in local Civil Hospitals. Mr Darbara Singh Guru, Secretary, Health, Punjab, said an awareness campaign in this regard would be launched. |
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Badal all set to be re-elected SAD chief Amritsar, June 12 Mr Badal would be authorised to nominate other office-bearers as per the past practice of the party. There are 418 delegates of the party. The process for electing delegates or other office-bearers is nothing more than a formality. Before the formal election of Mr Badal, the SAD would perform ‘shukrana’ for good performance of its Lok Sabha candidates during the recently held parliamentary elections. |
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Jahajgarh made temporary bus stand Amritsar, June 12 Earlier, a bus stand was made at Mall Mandi, which was not found suitable. The decision on additional bus stand was taken in a high-level meeting. The DC said since the start of the construction work at the bus stand, it was shifted to premises of the Punjab Roadways workshop area.
It was changed to Jahajgarh for buses operating from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patti (including Chola Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Moga, Faridkot,
Ferozepore etc), Khem Karan, Ajnala, Attari, Chogawan routes till the completion of general bus stand. Other routes would continue to be operated from temporary Mall Mandi. No bus will enter the city beyond the Ram Talai temple chowk and all buses coming from all corners would stop only at these bus stands. The Deputy Commissioner said the buses violating the new plan, would be impounded. The Deputy Commissioner, had withdrawn earlier order banning the construction within a radius of 1,000 metres around the Beas Ammunition Depot. |
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Residents fear threat from phone towers Barnala, June 12 Dr Jiwan Jain and Mr Surinder Mohan Garg, along with many shopkeepers and residents of the bazar met Mr Zora Singh Thind, Subdivisional Magistrate, on June 8 and made a written representation to him. In their complaint, they told the SDM that the Hutch telephone company was going to install its BTS tower on the first floor of an old building, which was in a very poor condition. The residents alleged that a big generator was also to be installed, which could result in the collapse of the building. The residents alleged that the company had neither sought permission from the Punjab State Electricity Board nor obtained an NOC from the Municipal Council. They informed the SDM that earlier Airtel had tried to install its BTS tower at the same site but following objections raised by residents, the court had stalled the move. They have urged the SDM to prevent Hutch from installing the tower. They have forwarded copies of the representation to Executive Officer, Municipal Council, the Subdivisional Engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board, Barnala, and the SHO, Kotwali police station. |
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Issuing of SC certificates to be simplified Kapurthala, June 12 The administration has provided forms to the Municipal Councillors, Sarpanches or Nambardars. Those needing a certificate can go to any of the three functionaries fill his name in the form. The form can be attached with an application to be submitted in the Suvidha Centre where employees will process it and deliver it the next day. The new method will save students from harassment by tehsildars, patwaris and kanungos. Deputy Commissioner, Rakesh Kumar Verma, said software for the purpose would be ready in a week. He said that the staff would be trained for a week before the services begin by the next month. The DC said that information pertaining to all 16 kinds of services pertaining to getting of arms licence, driving licence, fertilisers licence, affidavits, identity card, small savings and ration card available in the centre would soon be made web-enabled He claimed that the centre was receiving nearly 5000 applications in a month and more than 90 per cent of these were disposed of in the scheduled time. |
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Mini-secretariat staff apprise DC of problems Bathinda, June 12 In a press note issued here, Mr Gurjant Singh Grewal, president of the union, said Mr Sinha was apprised of the problems regarding arrangements for drinking water, scooter and cycle stand, sanitation in bathrooms and toilets, dining room and display of rate list of the items being sold in the canteen in the Mini-Secretariat. He said Mr Sinha promised that a lift would be installed. |
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Sirhind financier murdered Fatehgarh Sahib, June 12 She was rushed to the PGI, where her condition is stated to be out of danger. Mehta is suspected to have been killed by his recently employed servant, who was found missing. The door of the main gate was locked from outside. Mr Shiv Kumar, SSP, said Mehta and his wife lived at Sirhind while his son lives at Panchkula and daughter is married in Delhi. He said Mr Sodhi, manager in Mehta’s office, came to his residence and found the door locked from outside. He waited for some time, thinking that the Mehtas had gone somewhere. The manager also made calls on the mobile phone and landline phone of Mehta, but both were unanswered. He said around 11 a.m., he got suspicious and entered the house by jumping the wall. He also informed the police of the matter. The police broke open the door and found the couple lying in a pool of blood. The SSP said their servant, Ramesh, was missing. He said the Mehtas had employed him only 15 days ago as he was sent by their daughter from Delhi. Mr Shiv Kumar said Mehta was apparently killed with a “kundi
sota” as it was found near the body. Ms Mehta was also hit with same object in head. The television set and the lights of kitchen were on but no lock of any almirah had been broken. The SSP said the police had contacted the daughter of Mehta, who was in Spain. She informed the police that they got the servant employed through an employment agency of Delhi being run by Mr Chander. The SSP said a police party had been sent to Delhi to nab Mr Chander and to know the details of Ramesh. Meanwhile, Mr Bir Devinder, Deputy Speaker,
S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, Dr Harbans Lal, MLA, Mr Rajiv Dutta, acting president of Ashoka trust, Mr R.N. Sharma, president, Citizens Welfare Council and hundreds of people from every walk of life visited the site and expressed their grief. |
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Chit fund firm owner booked for fraud Amritsar, June 12 Kulwant Singh Nagi had been reportedly under pressure from his depositors to pay back their amount, as they were fearing that Nagi would flee from the city after the cheques issued by his company bounced. A complaint by a former CBI inspector, Mr Ranjit Singh Nanda, to the SSP brought the fact to the notice of the police on June 4 that Mr Nagi was likely to run away as he was delaying the payment of his huge pension deposit. However, the delay in taking cognizance of the complaint of Mr Nanda led to the disappearance of Mr Nagi and with his family, a day later. Investors had reportedly deposited around Rs 60 crore in his chit fund company for attractive returns. Though many such chit fund and non-banking finance companies had duped the public of several crore rupees but the district administration and the police had often failed to nab them. The district administration had been regularly issuing ban orders under Section 144 to caution the public about such companies, including Prabhat Finance, Shazda and others people continues to fall prey to the attractive bait offered by these companies. According to information a number of government officers, businessmen and renowned personalities had deposited huge amounts with the Sublime chit fund company. Nagi’s house in Majitha Road Colony has been
sealed. |
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3 held for abducting
minor girl Phagwara, June 12 Those arrested and remanded in police custody included Hardip Kumar of Dakoha village, Beant Singh of Chak Hakim village and Sonu of Partap Nagar,
Jalandhar. Those still at large included Raju and Mesha of Partap Nagar, Banti of Wadala Colony, and Suny of Dakoha village. |
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Narcotics worth Rs 6 cr destroyed Amritsar, June 12 This is for the first time that drugs have been destroyed in the border district by the police. The narcotics included 2 kg of pure heroin, 4.30 kg smack, 1.95 kg charas, 24.50 kg poppy, 455 gm ganja and 5,556 capsules. The drugs were burnt following orders from the high court asking the police to destroy such narcotics on a regular basis after constituting a committee headed by a DIG for the purpose and getting clearance from the courts concerned. Drugs and narcotics had been piling up for the past several years as there was no proper mechanism to dispose of them. |
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3 women held, 100 kg poppy husk seized Bathinda, June 12 District police chief, Kapil Dev, said yesterday that a naka was put up on the Raman-Bathinda road. A Maruti car (DNB-6616 was signalled to stop. On a search, three bags of poppy husk weighing 108 kg and one kg of opium was recovered from it. The four occupants of car, identified as Sukhdev Singh and his wife Mandeep Kaur, Jeet Kaur and Gurdev Kaur. He said it was found that the accused had been purchasing poppy husk at the rate of Rs 8,500 a kg and selling it at the rate of Rs 14,000. They used to purchase opium from Haryana at the rate of Rs 18,000 a kg and had been selling it for Rs 22,000. |
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Centre for Guru Granth Sahib Studies set up Jalandhar, June 12 Prof Niranjan Singh Dhesi, newly appointed Director of the centre, said “The centre will provide an opportunity to students to acquaint themselves with the ideology of the highest Sikh religious book as well as to promote their interest in adopting research projects on different subjects.” He said, the centre was first of its kind in the country. Prof Dhesi, former head of the Punjabi Department of the college, reveals, “The centre will be inter-linked with gurdwaras in major western countries including the USA, Canada, England, Germany and Australia through V-SAT for imparting information on the Sikh affairs to the wards of NRIs, particularly those hailing from Punjab. The basic idea is to improve the information level of children in these countries, who are fast loosing interest in their religion and culture under the influence of westernisation.” “We are making elaborate arrangements for holding online seminars and conferences through video conferencing, wherein, anyone sitting abroad can directly interact with the experts here to know about even minute details about ideology and philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib. Besides, we had already signed an MoU with the US based. Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Public Charitable Trust, Birmingham-based Guru Hargobind Sahib Memorial Trust and Punjab Arts Council in this regard,” Mr Sukhbir Singh Chatha, principal of the college said. Besides, the Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Public Charitable Trust would establish a gurmat research centre dealing with broad array of topics in Sikh history, philosophy, theology and culture. The research contributions that would emerge from the centre would be published in recognised professional journals and monographs in India and abroad. The trust would give Rs 5 lakh for the construction of a separate building for the research centre. |
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Protest against hiring teachers on contract Faridkot, June 12 Carrying black flags and placards condemning this policy, the protesters alleged Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had adopted a “rigid attitude” on the appointment of teachers on a permanent basis despite nearly 13,000 posts of ETT lying vacant in the state. The agitators also criticised the Chief Minister for refusing to meet members of the association who sought an appointment with him in May to remind him of his promise made to ETT association at Moga on April 30 to appoint the teachers on a permanent basis. MR Parminder Singh, convener of the Unemployed Teachers (ETT) Union, accused the state govt of misutilising Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan funds in the recruitment of teachers on contract. He also alleged that about 3000 regular teachers from different elementary schools had been shifted in implementing the new recruitment policy to meet political ends. He said if the govt failed to change its policy on unemployed teachers, they would intensify their stir at the state level by holding dharna and protest marches. Later the protester submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. |
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BCA exam result Amritsar, June 12 |
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PRTC to induct 200 new buses Patiala, June 12 Addressing a press conference here today, PRTC Chairman Ved Prakash Gupta said up to 15 buses would be produced every month at the bus-building facility of the corporation here. The first lot of 10 buses would be flagged off by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on June 14. Mr Gupta said the new buses were of the semi-deluxe type. These would be put to use on long routes and also on night service. With the induction of more buses, the corporation expects to start plying on routes it had surrendered earlier, including the Chandigarh-Jaipur route. The Chairman said the corporation had decided to build a new bus stand at Phagwara at a cost of Rs 2 crore. A new bus stand would also be built in Patiala once the district administration allotted the land for the purpose outside the city. Mr Gupta said despite a reduction in the fleet strength, the corporation had increased the effective kilometres logged by it. The receipts had also increased from Rs 173 crore last year, to Rs 180 crore this year. There had also been an increase in the operating profit from Rs 54 lakh last year to Rs 3.21 crore this year, he added. The Chairman disclosed that the corporation had requested the government to allow it to increase the fare from 42 paise per km to 50 paise. Mr Gupta said the corporation had merged the Bathinda and Patiala depots besides surrendering 475 posts to reduce the wage bill. Activities like gate control, security and cleanliness had been outsourced. |
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