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Farmers sell cotton below MSP
Bathinda, October 1 Reports of cotton purchase below the MSP have also been received from Gidderbaha and Malout. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Mahinder Singh, a farmer from Raike Kalan village, said he sold off his cotton at the rate of Rs 1,666 to a private buyer. Mr Darshan Singh of Kotfatta village fetched Rs 200 below the MSP and got only Rs 1,635 per quintal for his cotton produce. Mr Gurdev Singh of Mehta village said they had brought their produce to the market, as announcements were made in their village that their cotton would be purchase at the MSP of Rs 1,835. Mr Dharam Singh of Sainewala village was disappointed as his produce was rejected due to more moisture content and private firms were offering him Rs 1,635. Irked farmers even flocked to meet the Cooperative Minister as soon as the inaugural function got over to express their resentment at low prices. The minister immediately asked the Deputy Commissioner to look into the matter. While Muktsar witnessed cotton procurement by the government agencies and prices stuck to the MSP, rates were on the lower side in Gidderbaha as agencies were yet to enter the market. Sources said cotton’s price in Gidderbaha was Rs 1,765, while it was Rs 1,775 in Malout, though Markfed made an entry here and purchased about 100-150 quintal cotton. They said the agencies also didn’t enter Kotkapura market where the prices ranged between Rs 1,800 and Rs 1,835. In Mansa, the maximum price cotton farmers fetched was Rs 1,775 and here too agencies didn’t enter the market. Earlier, after launching cotton procurement, the Cooperative Minister said Markfed and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) would procure cotton from 27 markets of Punjab. He said the target of Markfed had been fixed at 8 lakh tonnes, which might be extended. Mr Singla termed it a historic day for the farming community of the state. He claimed that the state government would not allow any distress sale of cotton. He said the state had written to the Prime Minister seeking increasing the MSP for cotton so as to bring it on a par with other states. He said Rs 3.11 crore had been sanctioned for a new cotton market to be set up under technological mission, besides another Rs 32.8 lakh for roads. When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rahul Bhandari, said the agencies could only buy fair average quality of cotton at the MSP and the one with exceedingly high moisture content was rejected. He said he had sent the ADC, Mr Harjeet Singh, to the market and he had been holding meeting with farmers and Markfed and CCI officials on the matter.
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Impure salt in fake brand packing
Gurdaspur, October 1 Similar salt brands are available in the names of Himami, Bata, Ashoka, Sewak, Lal Quila, Sagufa, Marble Active, Safal, Lehar, and White Gold. The packing of most of the brands do not have the address of the manufacturers. Most of the said fake brands of salts are being manufactured or marketed by traders in and around Pathankot. Sources said traders here bring salt in trucks from Rajasthan. Here they pack the salt with labels similar to famous brands. Most of the traders send the fake brands of salt to Jammu and Kashmir. As per the norms fixed by the ministry of health sodium chloride (NACL) content in the salt should be at least 95 per cent. Besides four per cent dissolvable and one per cent non-dissolvable impurities are allowed. The government has banned the sale of un-iodized salt especially in the hills where the quantity of iodine in natural water is low. As per norms 30 ppm iodine must be present in any kind of salt being marketed. In the said fake brands of salt neither the purity level are maintained nor salt is iodized. The sources said 1 kg of salt packet costs just about Rs 2 to the manufacturer. Where as the minimum wholesale cost of a properly iodized branded was about 5 per kg. Due to huge margin, many traders are indulging in the business of raw salt from Rajasthan and selling it in fake brand of packaging. Most of the raw and fake packaging of salt in the area comes from some fictitious firms in Palaudhi area of Rajasthan. In the recent past the district health authorities confiscated about 2,600 kg of fake brands of salt from the Madhopur barrier. The sources available here said initially seven samples were taken. Later, the number samples were reduced and some of the traders were allowed to escape the dragnet. Some of the salt traders, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged that authority knows the truth behind the trade. Otherwise, how it is possible that the without bill material passes through barriers and packets not having the address of the manufacturers were being sold in the market. The sources said large scale adulteration was also taking place in the famous brands of salt. Some of the famous companies are not producing 1 kg pack of salt. They supplied salt in large bags and it was repacked in one kg bag by wholesalers leaving enough scope for adulteration.
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Row over Nagar Panchayat chief poll
Sangrur, October 1 They did so to prove their majority, and express their resentment against the manner in which the DDPO had reportedly declared Mr Girdhari Lal as president of the nagar panchayat, Khanauri. It may be mentioned here that after knowing about the reported declaration regarding the election of Mr Girdhari Lal as president of the nagar panchayat, a large number of protesters had gheraoed the nagar panchayat office at Khanauri yesterday. The police, in order to end the gherao of the nagar panchayat office resorted to a lathi-charge on the protesters. At this, the protesters reportedly started throwing bricks and stones on the policemen. About 12 persons, including some policemen, suffered injuries. The police also fired several rounds in the air to disperse the protesters, who also damaged some government vehicles. After that, the protesters blocked the Delhi-Sangrur main road for several hours at Khanauri. All eight members reportedly told the Deputy Commissioner that despite having a majority (seven members) in the nagar panchayat, Mr Satgur Singh had not been made president of the nagar panchayat by the DDPO, Sangrur. They also reportedly alleged that the DDPO declared Mr Girdhari Lal as president of the nagar panchayat though he had only three members with him at that time, as two members were neutral. Mr Naresh Kumar Singla, a member from ward no.5 who was neutral till yesterday, today also accompanied Mr Satgur Singh to the residence of the Deputy Commissioner in favour of Mr Satgur Singh. Besides Mr Naresh Kumar Singla, the seven members who presented themselves before the Deputy Commissioner were Mr Satgur Singh, Ms Shimla Rani, Mr Satbir Singh, Ms Indira Devi, Chaudhary Prem Chand, Mr Satbir Satta and Mr Karamveer Rana. All seven members told mediapersons that they were united and stood together for Mr Satgur Singh as president. Deputy Commissioner Husan Lal called the members of the nagar panchayat one by one to his camp office at his residence and listened to them. Later, the Deputy Commissioner said a decision related to this issue would be taken soon. However, Mr Satgur Singh said the Deputy Commissioner had assured them that he would decide the issue by tomorrow afternoon. Interestingly, Mr Subhash Grover, president of the Sangrur district Congress Committee, also met the eight members at the residence of the Deputy Commissioner here. He talked to them alone but did not disclose anything about his talk with the members to anyone. It is the talk of the town at Khanauri that Mr Girdhari Lal has the blessings of Ms Perneet Kaur, MP from Patiala. When The Tribune contacted Mr Sushil Kumar, DSP, Moonak, today, he said the police had registered a case against eight persons by name and others under sections 307, 342, 332, 333, 353, 186, 435, 427, 506, 120-B, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Section 25/27 Arms Act. He said no person had been arrested so far.
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All set for dry run of Lahore bus
Amritsar, October 1 The arrangements for the dry run of the 45-seater deluxe bus were finalised at a high-level meeting, presided over by Mr A.S. Talwar, Secretary Transport, here today. Among those who attended the meeting included Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kirandip Singh Bhullar, Director Transport, Mr Verma, Mr Gurwaryam Singh, SDM, and General Manager Punjab Roadways. However, the regular Amritsar-Lahore Bus service would be formally launched in the first half of November but a decision on a similar service between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev, has been put off for the time being. Another round of technical level talks on the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service is likely to be held within a month. Rummaging of the bus, security checking etc would be carried out at the proposed international bus terminal at Youth Hostel before the passengers are given boarding passes. The passengers would be segregated in the waiting hall for security purposes. It was to roll through the Wagah border joint check-post and end the 60-km long journey in the Gulmarg area in Lahore. After a night’s halt in Lahore, it would return to India on Wednesday. The one-way fare for the cross-border journey on the deluxe bus was to be Rs 750. The bus from the other side of the border, belonging to Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), was to reach Amritsar on Friday and return the next day after a night’s halt here. There is already a bi-weekly bus service, but it has no halt in Amritsar. The Punjab Police is providing foolproof security to the 45-seater bus. Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured the SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur that the government was committed to starting of bus service between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib at the earliest to fulfill the aspirations of Sikh devotees to the holy Sikh shrines.
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NRI booked for fraud
Hoshiarpur, October 1 Manjit Kaur had submitted a complaint to the police on April 16, 2005, against her NRI husband and others, but the complaint had generated no response. In her complaint to the SSP, Hoshiarpur, Manjit Kaur stated that after the solemnisation of her marriage with Romesh Lal, she came to know that he had already married four girls and divorced them. He had a child from one of his four wives. Romesh Lal was working in Dubai and used to come to India off and on. Before marrying her, Romesh Lal kept her family in the dark about his four earlier marriages. She alleged that all his four wives left him on account of the demand of more dowry by him and his mother. She further alleged that Romesh Lal, his mother and three sisters also started torturing her for more dowry. When she refused to fulfil their demand, they kept her in a locked room for many days. She stated that she somehow succeeded in escaping from the house of her in-laws and joined her parents.
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Phagwara, October 1 According to reports, the victim was identified as Gurpreet Singh (25) of Goraya who ran a finance company at Manila. The incident occurred at Vigan city. The body of the deceased will be brought to India for cremation, family members of Gurpreet Singh said. It may be recalled that Sandeep Kumar of nearby Jandiala Manzaki village was shot dead at Manila last week. — UNI
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Council finds only 4 nursing institutes unfit for teaching
Chandigarh, October 1 However, now, except for just four nursing institutes, all the remaining institutes, many of them still woefully short of the mandatory infrastructure, have been allowed to make admissions and run classes. Sources say many institutes that have been given permission to make admissions do not possess own buildings or hostels, a strict no-no, as per government guidelines. “I am not sure if the High Court orders have been strictly followed by the PNRC,” a source said. The PNRC is learnt to have accepted affidavits submitted by owners of the institutes, who have said that they have already started construction of the building. The Bench of the Chief Justice, Mr Justice D.K. Jain, and Mr Justice Hemant Gupta had also ordered that no nursing institute, which does not have the requisite infrastructure, will make any fresh admissions. The Bench has also directed that the institutes must fulfill the criteria laid down in various notifications issued by the Punjab government from time to time. Following the order, the PNRC restrained the institutes from making admissions till further orders. As per the notification dated Mach 19, 1984 issued by the Department of Medical Education and Research, Punjab, eligibility for opening and running a nursing school were laid down. The guidelines dated May 8, 1998, laid down norms for issuance of essentiality/no-objection certificates while another notification related to guidelines pertaining to minimum requirements necessary for a nursing school to be granted recognition. As per the notification issued on July 5, 2004, the government had made it clear that no admission would be allowed in rented/hired/leased building for the year 2005-06. But, now following intense lobbying by owners of nursing institutes and intervention of top government functionaries, institutes have been allowed to function despite paucity of infrastructure. The PNRC first held a meeting on September 26 and rescinded the recognition granted to 28 institutes. Advertisements placed in newspapers by the PNRC informed the general public about the fact that 28 institutes, named in the advertisements, had not been allowed to make admissions. Through the advertisements, these institutes were also asked to submit complete record within one day. At a meeting held yesterday, which reportedly did not have the complete quorum, the PNRC is leant to have given permission to 24 more institutes to admit students. Sources also disclosed that owners of at least two of the four institutes, which have not been allowed to make admission so far, have been assured of “favourable” action early next week. Despite repeated attempts, the PNRC President, Dr J.S. Dalal, could not be contacted for his comments.
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Power cuts imposed again
Ropar, October 1 In addition to it, one unit of 210 MW capacity of the Ropar thermal plant, which was scheduled to shut down for annual maintenance, could not be closed following shortage of the power. The PSEB official deferred the decision by a week because with the closure of one unit the state has to face additional shortage of 50 lakh units. A senior official of the PSEB said the state had been facing shortage of about 115 lakh units as the PSEB agreement of getting additional power from the Central grid expired yesterday. Besides, power load to the agriculture sector did not decline even after the paddy season was over. The power consumption in the agriculture sector was still about 200 lakh units.
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Appeal in blood for Sarabjit’s release
Amritsar, October 1 The peace ambassador of the council, Ms Kanchan Kishore, told The Tribune that the founder-convener, Dr Mahesh Yadav, along with three members would go on a ‘padayatra’ from Jallianwala Bagh to the Wagah border tomorrow to make an appeal to President Pervez Musharraf to grant mercy to Sarabjit Singh and also seek the release of PoWs languishing in jail for the past over three decades. She said a large number of local residents had come forward to join the padayatra.
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Sick of police ‘torture’, youth ends life
Mansa, October 1 The father of the deceased, Bhudev Parsad, and his brother Dharminder Parsad, alleged that a police party from Sardulgarh picked up 11 members of their family last night and thrashed them. They alleged that they had promised a payment of Rs 40,000 to the police to spare them of harrassment, of which they had paid Rs 10,000 on the same night. They had promised to pay the remaining amount today. They alleged that in lieu of the balance payment, the police had kept their tractor in its possession. Sources said the police had rounded them up in a case of land dispute. Irritated over the turn of events, Kishore set himself afire today on the disputed plot. Kishore breathed his last at the local Civil Hospital. He had sustained 90 per cent burn injuries. Sources said his declaration had been recorded by Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Hira Singh Gill. Hospital sources said his body would be handed over to his family members after conducting post-mortem. When contacted, the SSP, Mr Amit Parsad, said the deceased had named a few persons in his statement before the Naib Tehsildar and a doctor. On the basis of it, a case has been registered under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC. He denied the charge of torture levelled by his family against the police. He said the Sardulgarh DSP has been asked to probe the matter.
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Blood Donation Day observed
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 1 Addressing the function, Mr Sachdeva said blood donation was a noble cause. He said blood had no alternative and the requirement of blood could be met only through donation. Dr
N.S. Bawa, a renowned social worker, organised an exhibition on blood donation. He said the annual requirement of blood was 1.5 lakh units, whereas the donation fell for short of it. He said more and more people should come forward to donate blood. Regular blood donors of the district, Dr Mohinder Singla (87 donations), Mr Tarlok Gupta 70, and Mr Ashok Gautam 60, were honoured at the function. Students of the school organised a painting competition on the theme of blood donation. Dr Ravinder Verma was also honoured for contribution to the field of health services.
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Employees hold protest rally
Patiala, October 1 While addressing the rally, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ramgarh, state president of the organisation, said when the amendment could be implemented in 11 states of the country then why the Punjab Government had been denying the benefits to the Scheduled Caste community. He added that the government had failed miserably to solve the issues connected with the community. He said a memorandum was submitted to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh demanding the implementation of the amendment, free electricity to SC community, implementation of Mandal Commission report and reservation for the SCs in private and semi government organisations.
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Licences of fair price shop dealer cancelled
Barnala, October 1 The SDM resorted this drastic measure and allot licences to new persons when the residents of Hamidi village staged a dharna in front of the SDM office to protest against the malpractices of the govt fair price shop dealer Amarjit Singh having control of two fair price shops of Hamidi village.
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Moga district Congress chief gets bail
Moga, October 1 After Pappu surrendered himself in the court last evening, the defence counsel applied for bail and the court fixed the hearing for today. Today the court heard arguments of both sides and ordered that Pappu be released. — PTI
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Retired teacher’s house razed
Amritsar, October 1 Addressing a joint press conference here today victim Jaswant Singh, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha leader Dr Satnam Singh and Kirti Kisan Union leaders Dilraj Singh and Jatinder Singh Chhina, alleged that Head Sewadar Lakha Singh of Gurdwara Tahli Sahib and his followers armed with firearms had used bulldozer and tractor trailers to demolish the house. They alleged that the debris along with furniture was dumped in the houses of some Congress workers at the behest of a Congress MLA. Mr Jaswant Singh said he, along with family members, had gone to Amritsar for a domestic exigency and learnt about the incident on September 26 from his elder brother. He said he informed the Ajnala police about the matter on the same day, but the police instead of taking action, had ‘helped’ the accused. These organisations demanded that the police should arrest the accused persons. They further demanded that Rs 12 lakh should be given as compensation to the retired teacher and also given back possession of his land.
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Cop held accepting bribe
Moga, October 1 According to sources, Sub-Inspector Kashmir Kaur had demanded Rs 10,000 from Surinder Singh, a resident of Talwandi Bhai, for helping him in a case. The deal was struck at Rs 4,500. Surinder then approached the Vigilance with his complaint and a trap was laid. A team under DSP Narinderpal Singh Sidhu today caught her when she was accepting the amount from Surinder.
— TNS
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Punjab lags in telemedicine, says ISRO official
Amritsar, October 1 Dr Sangal today inaugurated the fourth two-day National Biennial Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Informatics (IAMI), being held at the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences, Vallah, near here. Talking to this correspondent on the sidelines of the conference, Dr Sangal said states like Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had implemented the facility, while Haryana and Kerala had come forward to adopt it. He said to implement it the state had to incur expenditure for providing infra-structure and equipment, including computers, software and cameras. He said this facility would not only reduce the cost of medical bills of the patients but it would also save the time of the doctors. Today’s proceedings of the conference included a special session on healthcare and disaster management followed by panel discussion. Apart from these, scientific sessions and poster presentations on various healthcare topics were held. The entire conference is being webcast for the benefit of experts and students. Speaking on the disaster management, Dr Sangal said it required a holistic approach from all countries as property worth about $100 billion got destroyed in natural disasters across the globe every year. Dr A.K. Attri, Professor and Head of the Surgery Department, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, opined that the Central Government should include members of the IAMI in the National Disaster Management Committee, headed by the Prime Minister. Mr O.P. Sharma, President, IAMI, said it was high time to implement the decision of the Medical Council of India to incorporate computer education in all branches of medical education, including paramedical and nursing.
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Colonel’s rank given to Boparai
Patiala, October 1 Group Commander Colonel S.P.S.Boparai, conducted the proceedings of the ceremony as colonel rank stars were put on the shoulders of the NCC uniform which the Vice Chancellor was wearing. A guard of honour was also presented to the Vice Chancellor in the uniform. Brigadier H.S.Gill, in his speech, went in to the details of the services rendered by Mr Swarn Singh Boparai which were of great significance from the defence point of view during the 1965 and 1971 wars when he was posted as a civil servant in the border districts of Amritsar and Ferozepore. On the occasion others who were present included Lt. Col. N.S.Sidhu, Officer Commanding 5 Punjab NCC Battalion and Lt. Col. Rupinderjit Singh,Officer Commanding 4 (Girls), NCC Battalion. All the NCC officers from colleges affiliated to the Punjabi University along with a large number of NCC cadets and senor faculty of the university, Patiala, were also present.
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Gandhi Jayanti celebrated
Patiala, October 1 Junior wing students, dressed as the Father of the Nation, presented skits, songs and poems. Language and social science teachers enlightened the students by throwing light on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.
The importance of peace and non violence in today’s world were also highlighted. The function concluded with a short speech by the Principal, Mr D.P Guleria, who urged them to grow strong mentally and stand by the ideals taught by Mahtama Gandhi. At another function, inmates of Shafa Home, a drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centre, 70 volunteers, who have completed their treatment at the Home took an oath that they would live a drug-free life. Later, a cultural programme was also held. Family members of patients also participated in the function. Bhupindra Interaction Public School organised a dance competition, a voice culture competition and a declamation contest to mark the birthday of the Father of the Nation. The topics of the declamation contest were “The architect of the nation” and “Gandhian philosophy”. Students of Classes I to IV participated in the voice culture competition and three of V to VIII participated in the declamation contest. Mrs Indu Sharma, Principal, advised the students to follow the path shown by the architect of the nation.
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