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Bibi’s continuation as SGPC chief unlikely
Ludhiana, October 15 The current term of Bibi Jagir Kaur has been plagued with controversies and Mr Badal had to face criticism from within the party. It was pointed out that Bibi Jagir Kaur was facing trial for the murder of her daughter. Secondly most of the traditional Akali leaders looked up to her as head of the dera. Incidentally the deras are against any modernisation or reforms in the gurdwara administration. It is worth noting that organisations of babas and sants have been vehemently opposing the introduction of Nanakshahi calendar which was launched by Mr Kirpal Singh Bandungar as president of the SGPC. The present tenure of Bibi Jagir Kaur has adversely affected the image of the SGPC because she initiated controversies herself. At the outset she took the initiative to withdraw the dossier which sought world heritage status for Harmander Sahib from UNESCO. The move was intended to malign Mr K.S. Badungar and Bibi Kiranjot Kaur because she thought both of them could be candidates for the post of president of the SGPC. Bibi Kiranjot Kaur is an intelligent woman who commands respect among a sizeable section of the Sikhs for being the grand daughter of Master Tara Singh. Mr
K.S. Badungar claims the post for having served the Badals with loyalty.
Further Bibi Jagir Kaur raised the issue of kirtan and sewa in Harmander
Sahib by Sikh women. This was a clever move on the part of Bibi to
become womenlib champion. The ramifications in both the cases were not
imagined by her. In case of sewa and kirtan by Sikh women, she invited
opposition from the Sant Samaj and the Sikh high priests. She is so
bitter by the stand taken by the Sikh high priests that she even of
easing out some of the jathedars. Apart from this she has also created
difficulties for herself and position of the SGPC vis-a-vis the
administration of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan. At no time she cared
about the diplomatic intricacies to handle the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara
Prabandhak Committee or the Pakistan Government. It is well known that
she never cared to seek the cooperation and help of the Government of
India in this regard. Consequently the dynamic president of the Delhi
Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMG), Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, got
cooperation from the Government of India and solicited its help for
undertaking kar sewa of the gurdwaras in Pakistan. As a result he was
able to get permission as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Delhi,
to undertake kar sewa of Janamashthan Patshahi Chauthi of Guru Ramdas at
Lahore. He also got permission to construct an inn at Nankana Sahib. Now
he is organising the march from Delhi to Nankana Sahib to offer a golden
palki for Gurdwara Janamashthan at Nankana Sahib. The march was to start
on October 23 which has been postponed due to the earthquake in
Pakistan. Mr Sarna has got a special bus which will carry Guru Granth
Sahib in the golden palki in a procession to Pakistan. The Pakistan
Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parvez Elahi, has agreed to receive the
procession. In a way Mr Sarna has given a big jolt to Bibi Jagir Kaur
who claims to be the sole representative of the Sikhs in and outside
India. The gurdwara committees and Sikh devotees in India and abroad are
giving wholehearted support to Mr Sarna in this mission.
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Encroachment bid on hospital land
Pathankot, October 15 Last night, some people started constructing a shop right inside 6-feet-high boundary of the Civil Hospital here. The idea was to construct a shop within the night and then break the boundary wall to open the face of the shop. The encroachers would have carried out with their work but for some vigilant citizens, who informed the police and hospital authorities about the encroachment. However, both the authorities did not act till some pressure was mounted on them by citizens. Police officials reached the spot and asked the persons involved to stop construction. No arrest was made or any case was registered despite the fact that an encroachment bid was being made right inside the Civil Hospital boundary. The authorities also did not make an effort to demolish the illegal structure. The hospital staff ultimately came forward in the morning to demolish the illegally raised structure. So, bold were the encroachers that despite the police intervention they attacked the hospital staff that was demolishing the structure. A few of the staff sustained injuries in the struggle. Once again no case was registered. Sources said that the encroachers had the blessing of a ruling party leader from Pathankot. The idea of the encroachers was to construct the shop and then involve the authorities in a legal court battle. Encroachment on public property has become common due to political protonage and complacent officials in the Pathankot area. Major cases of encroachment on public property that have been reported in these columns include a bid to take control over 50 acre land of the Hydraulic research center at Malikpur. Efforts were also made to take control of the 6 kanal land of the J&K Transport Department in the heart of the city. Besides, the encroachments can be seen around railway tracks and Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) installations. Houses and commercial establishments have been brought up just about 5 to 7 feet from the railway track. Towers of the PSEB, supporting the high tension 64 KV lines, have also been taken insides the boundary wall was encroachers at some places.
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Punjab Police to get more personnel: CM
Patiala, October 15 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the state had been facing an acute shortage of men in uniform to look after its law and order affairs as no recruitment had been done in the past 13 years. This is despite the fact that the population had increased considerably. Capt Amarinder Singh, who today visited the bereaved family of slain senior judge Vijay Singh to express grief, said he had asked the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, to do what was needed. “So far I don’t know at what level the recruitment will be made, but it will be done shortly and done at the district level. The strength of men in uniform will be reviewed on yearly basis,” he pointed out adding that there was no need of a security review in the state. The Chief Minister added that the manner in which Vijay Singh was murdered reflected that it was an outcome of personal enmity or some property dispute. When asked about his comments in connection with the murder taking place in a VVIP area, he said for him the whole state was a VVIP area. He claimed that in Punjab the crime graph had gone down after the Congress had come to power. However, he could not come with a satisfactory reply when asked about the failure of Patiala district police to solve a number of murder cases in the past one year.
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Farmers allege harassment by commission agents
Phagwara, October 15 At the Phagwara new grain market, farmers have been waiting for over a week for their paddy to be procured. The farmers who have sold their produce told The Tribune that they were also being fleeced by commission agents in connivance with officials of procurement agencies. Manjit Singh, a farmer, said a purchase agency officer visited his spot and purchased just two blocks of paddy. Fearing refusal by agencies in case of sand mixing with their produce, many farmers have even brought their own clothing to cover the paddy. Pritam Singh, a farmer from a nearby village, alleged that procurement agency officials had been persistently harassing them to force them to either sell their crop to commission agents or millers at a lower price. However, an official of the FCI admitted that the procurement was very slow as compared to last year because of the unseasonal rainfall this year. It
may be noted that in Phagwara grain market, millers and commission
agents have been purchasing paddy at Rs 500 per quintal to Rs 560 per
quintal against the MSP of Rs 600 per quintal. “This new grain market
has procured only 1,59,539 quintals of paddy till Friday as compared to
3,33,461 quintals last year,” said Naresh Bhardwaj, vice-chairman of
the market committee. Another farmer claimed that harassed farmers were forced to sell even good quality paddy at lower prices to commission agents, who get the MSP rate for the same crop by procurement agency officials. FCI Zonal Manager J. P. Sharma yesterday visited the local grain market and listened to the difficulties being faced by the farmers and added that he would look into the allegations made by the farmers.
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Woman succumbs to burn injuries
Pathankot, October 15 Yesterday night Priyanka received hundred per cent burnt injuries in the house of her in-laws. She was shifted initially to the Civil Hospital, Pathankot, and then to Ludhiana where she succumbed to the burn injuries in the evening. The body was brought back to Pathankot and a post-mortem examination was performed today. The mother of the deceased girl, Trishala Devi, said that they received a call that her daughter had received burn injuries. They were told that an LPG cylinder in the kitchen was leaking and Priyanka accidentally caught fire when she tried to ignite the gas. The mother alleged that her daughter had been killed. She had tiff with her husband over his alleged illicit relations. He killed her by strangulating her and then set her body on fire, sprinkling kerosene over it. The paternal uncle of the deceased alleged that the tongue of the girl was protruding out indicating that she had been killed by strangulation and later her body was burnt. The body of the girl smelled of kerosene whereas her husband had told that she received burns due to leakage of the cylinder, he alleged. The parents of the deceased girl have demanded forensic examination of the dead body to ascertain the fact behind her death. They said that they have given a written request in this regard to the police. They alleged that a ruling party minister was trying to shield the accused. The police did not take timely action and accused had cleaned the place of incident to remove the proof of the crime, they alleged. None of the member of the in-laws family or the husband of deceased was available for comments. However, some of the friends of Rajiv said that the charges being leveled on him was baseless. They alleged that Priyanka had killed herself. She sprinkled kerosene on her body and set herself on fire. Her husband also sustained about 20 per cent burns while trying to save her, they said.
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Deferred poll irks councillors
Phagwara, October 15 Though the posts of two vice-presidents had fallen vacant on July 17, the election to these posts was being deferred repeatedly, they rued. The Opposition councillors threatened that in case the poll was now further postponed, they would launch an agitation outside the office of Nagar Council.
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Probe begins into overcharging by octroi contractors
Barnala, October 15 Mr Phulka took the statement of the managing director of standard combines, Mr Nachhattar Singh. He also inspected the concerned record of the municipal committee. Mr Nachhattar Singh had approached the Principal Secretary, Local Bodies, Mr B.R. Bajaj, to redress this grievance. On the directions of the Principal Secretary the Deputy Director had today held the enquiry into the case. Mr Nachhatar Singh, in his complaint to the Principal Secretary had alleged that though his company was depositing Rs 40 lakh as octroi still the octroi contractors were misbehaving with his staff. He said the problem arose when he had objected to overcharging of octroi for cast iron being transported here. He said as per the government rate it should be Rs 17/quintal but the local contractors were charging from his company @Rs 45 /quintal. He had also showed the original notification to the local municipal authorities and brought the matter to the notice of the Executive Officer, Mr K.S. Brar. On his complaint the EO had directed the octroi contractors to charge the octroi @ Rs 17/quintal only. He too received the same communication in writing from the E O on August 30. Mr Nachhatar Singh said that on receiving this letter from the EO he had asked the authorities to pay back the arrears overcharged by the octroi contractors, worth Rs 58,810 from November 2004 to August 31,2005. When he demanded back the arrears the municipal authorities again sent him a letter on September 17, that from now onwards the octroi would be charged again @Rs 45 / quintal. Mr Nachhatar Singh then wrote a letter to the SDM, Mr Jora Singh, and the SSP, Mr G.Nageshwar Rao, for alleged highhandedness of the octroi contractors but of no avail.
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Tributes paid to BSF jawan
Abohar, October 15 It appeared to be a terrorists act but the authorities said investigation was still in progress. Those who paid tributes included SDM Jaskiran Singh, DSP Narinderpal Singh and Mr Subhash Chander Goyal, Assistant Commandant of the 42nd Bn of the BSF. Mr Jaskiran Singh, consoling Ms Bhagan Bai, mother of the martyr, said all monetary benefits on behalf of the state and Central government would be given to the bereaved family at the earliest. The village panchayat would be consulted for naming the village link road or the government school in memory of Parsa Ram. The jawan was cremated at the place of his posting, as it was not possible to lift the decomposed body to the native village, he added. A large number of residents from the neighbouring villages also offered floral tributes.
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Drugs and Cosmetics Act being modified
Amritsar, October 15 He said as per the modified rule 7 of this Act, now only pharmacy graduate would become drug-manufacturing pharmacist. Earlier, as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, both pharmacy graduates as well as science graduates could become the drug-manufacturing chemists after relevant experience, he added. He further said the draft notification was being coming soon and law would come in force after 45 days of this official notification.
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8 gurdwaras damaged in quake: SGPC
Amritsar, October 15 The team led by Mr Sucha Singh Langah, which included Mr Harsurinder, member, and Mr HS Bhanwar, media adviser, SGPC, respectively, stated that structures of eight gurdwaras in Jammu and Kashmir had suffered severe damage in the quake. The team visited about 36 villages in Baramula and areas near the Line of Control (LoC), including Uri, Rafiabad and Kupwara, during their four-day stay. Meanwhile, the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society, for today sent warm clothes for 1,500 families, which included blankets, rice and pulses in two trucks. The
Tea Traders Association and Hasham Sham Public School has also collected
relief in cash and kind for quake victims.
— OC
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Six chemist shops raided
Sangrur, October 15 The team seized a large number of intoxicanted medicines, which may be misused as drugs, from these shops. Mr Dinesh Gupta said last night that the team checked three chemist shops each at Sangrur and Barnala and seized 4510 capsules, 1,66,400 tablets, 724 bottles of cough syrup and 840 injections of different brands from these shops. He said the total cost of the seized intoxicants had been assessed at Rs 1 lakh.
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Gastroenteritis deaths: BJP threatens stir
Phagwara, October 15 He served a 72-hour ultimatum on the administration to either improve sanitary conditions or the party would block traffic and burn the effigy of the Chief Minister in front of nagar council office. He alleged that even though two migrant children had died of gastroenteritis and about 300 cases had been reported in the past three weeks, adequate remedial measures had not been taken.
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Valmiki birth anniversary
Batala, October 15 The procession, led by Mr Ved Parkash Luthra, started from Maharishi Valmiki Temple and passed through main bazaars of the town. HOSHIARPUR: A shobha yatra in connection with the birth anniversary of Maharishi Valmiki was taken out here on Saturday.
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Challan filed in Nayagaon rape case
Ropar, October 15 The SP, Mr Pritpal Singh Virk, who submitted the challan, while interacting with reporters outside the court, said the challan included name of the Indian Express reporter Gautam Dheer and Punjab Police Inspector Jagjit Singh, but the case against them was under investigation and it would require some more time to enquire the matter. Others whom against the challan filed included Keshar Singh, Ram Gir, Sham Lal, Avtar Singh, Kamar Inder Singh, Ram Kesh, Shakti Chand, Gurdhian Singh, Gurbhag Singh, Mahinder Singh, Gurbachan Singh, Satnam Singh, Rajvinder Singh, Surinder Mohan, Satpal, Labh Singh, Ramesh Handa, Jyoti Sharma, Babu Ram, Amarpit Singh, Ram Singh and Gurjit Singh.While Sajjan Singh, accused in the case, had died, 17 other accused in the case were in the judicial custody and rest were on bail. The Judge had fixed next date of hearing on October 18.
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Vigilance appoints info officers
Chandigarh, October 15 A spokesperson said the bureau was among the first departments of Punjab to implement the Act for the convenience of the public. As required under Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, Assistant Public Information Officers, Public Information Officers and an appellate authority had been appointed in Chandigarh. Mr Arpit Shukla, Joint Director of the bureau, had been appointed Public Information Officer with the DSP, Flying Squad-I, as Assistant Public Information Officer. Similarly, for bureau offices in the field, Senior Superintendents of Police had been appointed Public Information Officers. The DSPs of bureau units had been appointed Assistant Public Information Officers. Mr C.S.R. Reddy, Director of the bureau, would be the appellate authority.
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Man held for murdering father
Bathinda, October 15 Police sources said accused Bhola Singh of Ramnagar village strangulated his father Hajura Singh to death about two months ago and dumped it in a minor near Ghuman Kalan village. He also spread the word in the village that his father had gone with his brother Darshan Singh, who lived in Mansa, and also took along some household goods. When
Hajura’s wife Sant Kaur, who had been to her daughter’s place,
returned, she enquired about the whereabouts of her husband and
belongings. Later, her domestic goods were found lying in Bhola Singh’s
house that pointed the needle of suspicion towards him. She lodged a complaint against her son and during subsequent investigation Bhola and his wife confessed to have murdered Hajura Singh. He said his father had sold off two acres and was willing to sell more, to which he was opposed. The police has booked the couple under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC. In another case, the police received a tip-off that five-six men had abducted Babu Singh, a resident of Bhucho Mandi, with an intention of eliminating him. The police set up check posts at various points to nab the accused. The Nathana SHO got information that they were spotted moving in Lehra Mohabbat area, whose limits were sealed immediately. The police saw some suspicious persons coming out the bus stand in a Marshal jeep. They tried to speed away on being stopped, but the police got hold of them. The police got Babu Singh freed from the clutches of abductors. Those arrested were identified as Shamsher Singh, Nirbhay Singh, Swaran Singh and Malkit Singh, while their two aides Jasvir Singh and Pappu were still at large. Sources said Shamsher was having a grudge against Babu Singh over some personal matter. A case has been registered against them under Sections 362, 363, 148 and 149 of the IPC.
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Naib Subedar kills mother
Hoshiarpur, October 15 According to police sources, Bhajan Kaur wife of Buta Singh, Naib Subedar, after washing a bed-sheet, put it up on a rod towards the courtyard of the adjoining house of her sister-in-law, Kulwant Kaur. Water drops started oozing from the bed-sheet and pouring in the courtyard. Gian Kaur, her mother-in-law, who was living with the family of her second son, asked Bhajan Kaur to place the bed-sheet to another side as water drops were pouring in the courtyard. Bhajan Kaur who was not in good terms with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law instigated her husband against her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Both husband and wife assaulted Gian Kaur and Kulwant Kaur daughter-in-law with an iron pipe. Buta Singh allegedly hit his mother with the iron pipe due to which she died on the spot. Kulwant Kaur also got injuries. After realising the gravity of situation, he fled. The police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of IPC against both husband and wife.
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7 booked on industrialists’ complaint
Batala, October 15 The cupola of M/s A.V.R. Foundry was running when Raju Nihang and his men allegedly stopped it. The cupola belongs to Mr Mangal Dass, president Factory Association, Batala. Certain industrialists met Dr Jatindra Kumar Jain, SSP. A few of them also met the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and gave details about the case. The Chief Minister asked Dr Jatindra Kumar Jain, SSP, Batala, to look into the complaint. The SSP gave instructions to Mr Sucha Singh, Inspector, Civil Lines police station, Batala who booked Navaljeet Singh, Harjeet Singh, Kamal Jeet Singh, Narinder Singh, Joginder Singh, Goldy and Darshan Singh under Sections 364, 452, 148, 149, IPC.
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4 held for contract killings
Ropar, October 15
Police sources said Amarjit had given supari (contract) to the other
accused to kill the couple. The police, however, is still grouping in
the dark over the missing bodies. The sources added that the two were done to death by the accused, who later threw the bodies in the Bhakra canal passing through Solakhiyna village.
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IMCT students interact with business honchos
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 15 Dr M.S. Grewal, Registrar, Punjab Technical University, was the guest of honour. The seminar was inaugurated by Mr Nitin Nanda, Director, R and D (Enterprise Product), Quark India Pvt. Ltd, Mohali, by lighting a lamp. Mr V.M. Trehan, Chairman, Mekaster Group, New Delhi, presided over the function. In his welcome address, the IMCT Director, Dr B.S. Bhatia, underlined the need for organising such seminars to keep abreast the students about the latest happenings in the field of IT industry. Mr Nanda, shared his experience in the field of customer relation management with students and also informed them about the initiative on the part of Quark City for making the Chandigarh-Mohali belt an attractive IT destination. In his keynote address, Mr Anil Khanna, CEO, SeAsia, Chandigarh said that students were expected to have knowledge of all prevalent technologies for their success in the IT Sector. Mr Trehan, who is also the president of the Delhi chapter of the India Science Congress, in his presidential address, said that the biggest challenge in the IT industry was retaining good employees. Dr Grewal ensured that the university was making all efforts to make the syllabi industry oriented. In the afternoon session, Mr Lalit Singla, project head of Infosys told the students about how to become industry-ready professionals. Mr Ajay Arjit Singh of Hewllet Packard, Gurgaon, spoke on end user work solutions. Mr Anil Sethi, CEO, NCNL Info media, told students about how soft skills were extremely important for an IT professional. Mr Anmol Bedi, system administrator of IDS Infotech, Mohali, elaborated on various advantages of open source technologies. Mr Rajiv Kondal and Mr Rishi Raj of Sebiz Technologies spoke on the search engine market, which is again a latest IT phenomenon. Prof Viney Nassa, HOD (Computer Science) of RIMT, Prof Gurwinder Bakshi of Management Department, and Prof Gaurav Salwan also expressed their views. Mr Shaili and Ms Archana, students of MCA (V semester) presented the vote of thanks on the behalf of the institute.
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PU youth festival begins
Hoshiarpur, October 15 Colonel Anup Singh who was the chief guest inaugurated the function by unfurling the youth festival flag and took salute of contingents of the NCC unit of the college. Dr Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, a former Vice-Chancellor of the university, presided over the second session of the first- day of the function. Mr H.S. Hanspal, a former president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), gave away prizes to winners. He announced to give Rs 6 lakh for a library and promised Rs 10 lakh for the construction of classrooms on behalf of Ms Ambika Soni, general secretary, All-India Congress Committee. Today’s Results are: The results of Ladies traditional song ‘group (A) : DAV College, Hoshiarpur, bagged the first position followed by MBG Government College, Pojjewal, while MLBG College, Tipperian Khurd, was adjudged the third. In ‘group (B) : MBGGG Girls College, Rattewal, MBBGRGC Girls College, Mansowal and SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, were adjudged first second and third, respectively. Kavi-shayeri: MBBGRGC Girls College, Mansowal got first position, DAV College For Girls, Garhshankar, second, and BAM Khalsa College, Garhshankar, third. Kali singing: MBBGRGC Girls College, Mansowal, first, MBBGGG Girls College, Rattewal, second and SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, third. Folk competitions: BAM Khalsa College, Garhshankar, first and MBG Government College, Pojjewal, second.
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New colleges sanctioned despite ban
Abohar, October 15 Admission
for BA Ist year was formally started in the Government Senior Secondary
School for Boys at Mohan Ke Hithad village located on the Abohar –
Ferozepore road in Guruharsahai assembly constituency represented by the
Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi. Dr Karnail
Singh, principal, Government Barjindra College, Faridkot, has the
additional charge the new colleges.
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