Kapurthala, April 1
Tension mounted at Hussainpur when Rail Coach Factory employees and their family members while going towards the cremation ground for the last rites of Budh Singh stopped on the way and squatted on the railway track on the RCF halt detaining the Ahmedabad-Jammu Tawi Mail for more than two hours today. They also blocked the vehicular traffic on Sultanpur Lodhi Road for several hours.

Budh Singh, a mason at RCF, committed suicide in his house in the RCF complex yesterday evening. The widow of the deceased, Mrs Darshan Kaur, in the report lodged with the police alleged that her husband took the extreme step apprehending retrenchment after conversion of RCF into a public sector undertaking.

The Railway Minister in his Budget speech had proposed declaring the RCF as a PSU and since then the employees were up in arms protesting against the proposal.

“My husband was under depression for past few days fearing retrenchment and our agriculture land had already been acquired by the RCF 20 years back,” said Mrs Darshan Kaur.

Mrs Darshan Kaur told mediapersons that the General Manager should be booked in a criminal case for allegedly forcing her husband to take this extreme step.

She demanded adequate compensation as she and her two children had no other means of livelihood.

The agitating employees also demanded registration of a criminal case against the General Manager. They also demanded his immediate transfer blaming him for the unfortunate incident.

At 1 pm the employees reached the RCF gate with the body of the deceased and raising slogans against the mangement. After parking the tractor trailer on the road, they staged a dharna on the railway track near the gate and on the Kapurthala-Sultanpur Lodhi road.

Rana Gurjit Singh, MP and Bibi Upinderjit Kaur, MLA, Sultanpur Lodhi, also reached the place to express their sympathies with the agitating employees.

Mr Rajiv Ahir, SSP, Kapurthala, also reached the spot. Rana Gurjit Singh, blaming the General Manager for creating unrest among the employees, assured full support to the employees. He alleged that the General Manager was behind the proposal to convert RCF into a PSU. However, the General Manager has already refuted this allegation.

After assurance by the MP that the GM would be transferred, the agitating employees left for the cremation ground.

Meanwhile, the SSP said the family did not accuse the General Manager in the complaint on Friday but the SP (Headquarter) would inquire into the fresh allegations by the family.

The Kapurthala railway station authorities later informed that the schedule of four trains, including Ahmedabad-Jammu Tawi, Jammu Tawi-Ahmedabad, 7JF Jalandhar-Ferozepore and 8JF Ferozepore-Jalandhar trains was affected.

CHANDIGARH: Following the suicide by an employee of the Rail Coach Factory, the President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, urging him to intervene in the matter.

Mr Badal said the Prime Minister should immediately withdraw the proposal of converting the RCF into a public sector undertaking. The SAD chief also demanded adequate compensation to the family of the deceased.

Chandigarh, April 1
The Punjab Government has given extension in service to all its 77 law officers for one year. The order in this regard was issued by the Department of Home and Justice yesterday.

According to the order, the 77 law officers will continue in service till March 31, 2007.

This means an extension for all three Senior Additional Advocates-General (AG), 13 Additional AGs, nine Senior Deputy AGs, 14 Deputy AGs and 20 Assistant AGs.

Not only this, the government has also extended the contracts of all 16 Attached Assistant AGs, in spite of the fact that very few of them have ever been seen in the High Court or the office of the state Advocate-General.

Despite making tall claims about its commitment to drastically reducing the number of law officers, the Amarinder Singh government has actually turned the office of the Advocate-General into a drawing room for the kith and kin of influential persons.

The decision means that Ms Vibha Pandey (Vigilance Bureau chief A.P. Pandey's daughter-in-law), Ms Poonam Josan (Minister Hans Raj Josan's daughter) and Ms Sonia Virk (Ropar SSP Surinderpal Singh's daughter) will continue to draw their salaries for one more year.

The three Senior Additional Advocates-General who have been given extension are Mr N.S. Boparai, Mr Sarup Singh (for Delhi) and Mr Chander Mohan Munjal.

Meanwhile, with less than a year remaining before it goes to the polls, the Congress government has also finally initiated steps to regularise the pay scales of its law officers. A meeting in this regard will be held soon.

Apart from the fact that there is a big gap between the salaries of the law officers of the Punjab and Haryana Governments (Punjab pays less to its law officers), the long-pending issue of the late disbursal of salaries is also expected to be dealt with. Punjab law officers seldom get their salaries on time.

Kapurthala, April 1
Bundles of pleasant surprises greeted visitors at Pushpa Gujral Science City, near here, as they not only had a rare chance to have a face to face with Dicky Dolma, the youngest woman in the world to climb the Mount Everest at the age of 19 years in 1993, but also had a glimpse of the peak in “Everest”, the world’s best rated large format (IMAX) film. The film was launched by Nicky Dolma.

For hundreds of visitors, particularly kids, the unique 23-metre tilted giant dome theatre, equipped with a large screen that is 10 times larger than the usual 35mm screen, virtually got turned into a window to the Mount Everest as “Everest” unfolded various mysterious of the highest Himalayan peak and a story about one of humanity’s greatest adventures to the largest motion pictures screens in the world.

If there were any gaps left by the movie for awe-struck viewers, Dicky Dolma was there to fill it by elaborating her adventure-filled experiences as a mountaineer. She still holds her world record.

“When we are up there and in front of mountains, we feel God is watching us straight into our eyes. It is all about luck. I am so inspired by my trip that If I get another chance, I will go there once again. But, it depends upon the will of God. Even during the last Indian expedition, I yearned to be part of it, but, I could not be as I was blessed with a baby girl then.

“For achieving anything in life you need a strong will power and that is, particularly, required for adventure sports like mountaineering, wherein, there are no spectators and referees and you are all left by yourself amidst lap of nature. Anyway, I would continue my love with mountains,” asserted Dicky Dolma, the recipient of the Mahila Shiromani Award and the National Adventure Award.

“I did not feel relieved for a single moment till I climbed the zenith at the top of the world. But once I was there, I felt as if I had got intoxicated. Though death of an instructor and a woman colleague shook me inside out, but, I realised that achieving a target should always be more important for a person.

“I still relive those moments time and again when I was informed at Kathmandu after completion of the expedition that I was the youngest woman of the world to have climbed the Mount Everest at the age of 19. Those moments still enthral me and fill me with a zest for life,” said Dicky Dolma, who, was swarmed by groups of school students and kids who wanted to get photographed with her.

Dicky Dolma was accompanied by Mr R.S. Khandpur, Mr Bhagwant Singh and Mr R. Sharma, Director-General and Directors, respectively, of the Pushpa Gujral Science City.

On the other hand, “Everest” effectively informed viewers about how the Mount Everest was formed and how it continued to evolve. Filmed in breathtaking and expensive IMAX format of photography, the film illustrated the combination of awe and seductive danger that has inspired scores of climbers to reach for the peak.

Hoshiarpur, April 1
Illegal felling of trees was continuing in the forests of Hoshiarpur division.A large number of khair trees have been felled illegally in Kukanate village falling in the Dholbaha range.

The former Wildlife Wardens, Mr Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa and Mr Gunraj Singh, have video recorded the illegal felling of the trees a copy of which has been provided to The Tribune. In the video CD,a large number of green trees have been felled in the forest area.

The trees have been uprooted from the roots. As per the felling rules, no tree in the forest area can be uprooted. Only the stem of the tree can be cut leaving a probability that it will sprout again.

However, the sources said the contractors also uprooted the trees to get hold of roots of khair trees. The labourers axing the trees when asked said they were cutting the trees on the orders of the forest contractor. They admitted that they had been cutting the trees for the past three days.

The village has not been opened for felling under the 10-year plan of the Forest Department. This information has been provided to Mr Sukhdeep Bajwa by the DFO, Hoshiarpur, in a query made under right to information.

Due to it the entire felling in the forest is illegal. Interestingly, despite the fact that information regarding illegal felling was provided to the Forest Department by the former warden, none of the officials has visited the area to book the persons involved in illegal felling.

The Hariana police near Hoshiarpur has also caught two truckloads of khair tree stems that were cut illegally from the forests.

Mr Bajwa had filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High court against the illegal felling of trees in the state. The Secretary, Forests, Punjab, in an undertaking in the court has stated that no permits for felling of trees would be issued till the PIL was pending.

The sources, however, said that many permits had been issued in Hoshiarpur despite the undertaking.

No Forest Department official was available for comment.

Patiala, April 1
Putting the party into an election mode, the SAD chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, while stating that only loyal workers who had the capacity to win would be given ticket for the coming Assembly elections, urged the rank and file to shun "politics of differences."

Mr Badal, who presided over a function organised in connection with the death anniversary of former Akali minister Jasdev Singh Sandhu at Bahadurgarh, said only able party workers would be put in the fray.

He said the workers should work like the late minister who had contributed a lot for the uplift of people of this area, so that a people-oriented government could be set up in Punjab.

"If you will keep on fighting with one another, you will not be able to bring the SAD into power. The party has suffered a lot in the last assembly elections due to infighting," he pointed out.

Declaring that chief minister Amarinder Singh would not be spared for his "misdeeds", he said though he was not in favour of "politics of revenge", he would prefer to teach the "arrogant Maharaja" a lesson.

A galaxy of Akali leaders, including Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar and Mr Avtar Singh were present on the occasion.

Nangal, April 1
The Nangal police today arrested two persons, including the district president of the Lok Janshakti Party, Magar Singh, and rounded up nine others who had protested against the NFL management’s decision to lease Capt Amol Kalia (CAK) Fertilizer Model Senior Secondary School to the Education Society and later locked the gates of the school.

Tension prevailed here since late evening when members of the party demanded withdrawal of the contract with the Education Society. They gathered outside the office of the Chief General Manager, NFL, and did not allow him to leave.

The police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the protesters and rounded up 11 persons. Nine were released after they gave an assurance to the police not to indulge in further protest.

The DSP, Mr Jasdev Singh, said Magar Singh and Raghuvir Singh had been arrested as they had violated Section 144, CrPC, imposed in that area yesterday.

Pathankot, April 1
Houses in the Sarain locality of Pathankot have started developing cracks. The residents allege that the cracks have developed due to sewerage water seeping under their houses.

The sewerage pipes passing through their locality are of poor quality. The water is constantly seeping through them in the surrounding area. This has created dampness in the under ground soil. The earth is caving in at certain places leading to cracks in many houses of the 
locality.

Some of the residents have alleged they had to erect pillars under their roof to protect the houses from collapsing. However, the cracks are continuously appearing in the walls and other parts of the houses.

The area where the problem persists is old and congested locality. The residents have consistently been complaining to the Municipal Council regarding the damage to their houses. However, nothing has been done as yet.

The council authorities admitted that the problem was being faced by people of the area due to faulty sewerage pipes. The sewerage pipes were laid in the area about 10 years ago. At that time proper specifications were not followed leading to the present problem.

The council is trying to change sewerage pipes in some areas but inadequate budget is the problem, they said.

The seeping sewerage water has already contaminated the underground water in the area. Most of the old hand pumps installed at medium depth in the locality are pumping contaminated blackish water. This has rendered the hand pumps useless for residents.

The residents also alleged that the sewerage water was contaminating the water supply of the Municipal Council. Wherever water supply pipes of the council are damaged the drinking water supply to their houses gets contaminated. Many cases of jaundice were reported from the area last year.

After the matter was reported in The Tribune the district health authorities collected water samples from the areas.

Ropar, April 1
The ashes remains of Col G.S. Dhillon eminent freedom fighter and close associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, were today immersed in the Sutlej passing through near Gurdwara Patalpuri Sahib in Kiratpur today.

Col G.S. Dhillon (93) had died in Madhya Pardesh on February 6.

The Deputy Commis-sioner of Ropar, Mr H.I.S Garewal, the ADC, Mr Surjit Singh, and other officials paid tributes to the freedom fighter at Nangal Chowk here.

Chandigarh: The urn containing the ashes of veteran freedom fighter and commander of the Indian National Army (INA), Col G. S. Dhillon passed through the city today on its way to Kiratpur Sahib. A large number of people turned up to pay tributes to the departed leader during the cavalcade’s brief halt here.

Besides local residents, prominent Congress leaders also turned up on the occasion. A few veteran freedom fighters, including former chairman of Congress freedom fighter cell, Mr P.B. Bhargava, also paid floral tributes to their old comrade-in-arms.

The urn containing the ashes arrived here from Ambala in a flower-decked military vehicle, accompanied by Colonel Dhillon’s son Sarabjeet, family members and well-wishers. The ashes, as per his wish, are to be immersed at Kiratpur Sahib.

Born on March 18, 1914, Colonel Dhillon passed away on February 6 at Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. He followed Netaji Subash Chandra Bose into raising the INA and was among its three commanders.

Barnala, April 1
Twentyseven aged and ailing workers of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), who had been lodged in the jails of Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur and Barnala, have been released on humanitarian grounds.

Disclosing this here today, Mr G. Nageshwara Rao, SSP, Barnala, said around 554 activists of the organisation were arrested under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPc on March 19 and 20 for protesting against the acquisition of 376 acres of agricultural land at Dhaula, Fatehgarh Chhanna and Sanghera villages for Trident Group of Industries.

He said if there were any more old detainees of the party, who were not keeping well, they would also be released.

The action of the administration comes in the wake of the death of an aged detainee, Sarmukh Singh, on March 30 in the Ludhiana jail.

Sangrur, April 1
With a view to creating awareness about TB through entertainment, the Sangrur District TB Control Society will organise four magic shows from April 4 to April 8.

Giving this information here today, Dr Surinder Singla, in charge, District TB Centre, Civil Hospital, said Ved Parkash, a magician, and his team from Chandigarh would perform the first magic show on April 4 in a slum area at Sunam while the second show would be performed by the group in a slum area in Sangrur on April 5. On April 8, the magic show would be held at the National School of Nursing, Sangrur, and at a slum area in Malerkotla.

Dr Singla said this move would yield positive results in controlling the spread of TB and lowering the death rate due to the disease as most patients died due to lack of awareness about the treatment.

He said TB was a leading health concern in the state as thousands of suspected patients remained undetected despite the free diagnosis and treatment facilities under the revised national TB control programme of the Central Government.

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 1
The government has received an overwhelming response to the process initiated for the recruitment of teachers, doctors, engineers and others.

The new process is not a contract system, but a public-private participation system, which will bring a radical shift in delivery of the primary education and health systems.

Teachers and doctors will not be recruited for the government, but for schools and primary health centres, said Mr K.R. Lakhanpal, Chief Secretary of Punjab, while talking to Chandigarh Tribune here today.

He had come to participate in a symposium on quality education in Punjab organised by the Canadian Institute for International Studies at its Jalbehra centre, 10 km from here.

He said they had got 65,000 applications for 12,000 posts of teacher and 2,600 applications for 1,300 posts of doctor.

He said education and health were the most important sectors adding that emphasis was more on general education rather than skill-based education. He said 4,200 primary schools had been handed over to zila parishads and municipal councils. 

Tarn Taran, April 1
Tarn Taran is likely to be made a revenue district to mark the 400th death anniversary of the fifth Sikh Guru.

Highly-placed sources in the state pointed out that the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had given instructions to senior officials of the state to work out the modalities.

Earlier, Mr Parmjit Singh Sarna, President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, New Delhi, and his younger brother Harwinder Singh Sarna, President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, met the Chief Minister and submitted a request to meet the demand of the residents of Tarn Taran.

Tarn Taran was made a police district during the peak of militancy and the head of the police department is the SSP.

On the condition of anonymity, a senior bureaucrat of the Punjab Civil Secretariat confirmed that the Chief Minister had given his nod for carving out Tarn Taran as the new district.

Nawanshahr, April 1
A sum of Rs 25 crore is being spent on the various development projects in this Assembly segment. This was stated by Mr Parkash Singh, local MLA and Parliamentary Secretary, while addressing a gathering of local Congress leaders and workers at his residence in nearby Sloh village today.

He said grants worth Rs64 lakh had been disbursed among the authorities concerned under the Punjab Nirman Scheme. The Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs3.52 crore and Rs1.21 for providing sewerage and potable water, respectively, in the town.

Besides, a sum of Rs72 lakh had been sanctioned for setting up traffic lights and street lights in the Nawanshahr and Rahon municipal areas. — OC

Amritsar, April 1
Dilbagh Singh, a truck driver and resident of Ajnala, reportedly killed his wife and two minor children over a minor dispute late last night. The accused after committing the crime pasted a confession note on the doors of his house on the basis of which the police have booked the accused under Section 302, IPC.

The deceased were identified as Rajbir Kaur, her daughter Priya (9) and Surjit Singh (5). The accused is absconding after the incident.

According to information, Dilbagh Singh was married to Rajbir about 11 years back and remained in Maharashtra most of the time. He used to come home after six months. On the intervening night of March 30-31, a dispute took place between the two and in a fit of rage, the accused killed his wife and children with a ‘datar’ when they were asleep.

Before fleeing, he pasted a letter on which he admitted that he had killed his wife and children and did not have any regret. He said his wife did not listen to him and he had also complained to his mother-in-law.

Mrs Mahinder Kaur, mother of the accused talking to media alleged that her son was a drunkard and used to beat his wife when he returned home. She said he did not give her any money to run the house and Rajbir used to work as labourer to make both ends meet.

Mr Sudesh Agnihotri, SP (D) while confirming the incident added that Dilbagh called his neighbour in Ajnala from Delhi and informed him that he had killed his family and asked him to inform his elder brother Jaspal living nearby. He said police teams had been sent to Delhi and efforts were being made to arrest him.

Amritsar, April 1
The decision of the government to close down more than 17,000 private schools, which are running on residential premises, today came under criticism.

Mr Brij Bedi, chairman of the Citizens Forum, an NGO, which has adopted around 400 children of victims of drug addiction studying in Vidya Mandir, being run by it here, said closing down of around 17,000 schools meant rendering almost three lakh students without studies and almost 50,000 teachers without job.

He said private schools and those run by various NGOs had taken education to the doorstep of the poor and underprivileged and that, too, on minimal fees or in some cases free of cost. The government seemed to be adamant to destroying the education system in the state, Mr Bedi said. He urged the government to review and withdraw the decision.

Patiala, April 1
The order of the management of a prestigious school here asking its teachers and other staff not to trim their hair has led to discontent among them.

At a meeting held on March 28, the Principal of the school informed the staff that the management desired that no teacher should trim his or her hair in future and that if anyone did not wish to respect the order of the management, then he or she could quit the school.

Sources said the order was circulated in writing on March 30 with the teachers being asked to sign on it.

The circular reportedly says since trimming hair is against the teachings of the master of a particular religion the teachers are expected to strictly follow the order in future.

The order has generated resentment among the teachers, who are taking it as an assault on their personal liberties and democratic rights.

All women teachers, irrespective of their religion, have been particularly asked to follow the order or quit the school.

Though the teachers of the school were not coming out against the school management openly fearing a backlash, a section of them approached the media through their local contacts.

The teachers pointed out that the management should think about improving the schools academic credentials instead of interfering with people’s personal freedom.

The Principal of the school asked this reporter not to publish the news, saying that no such circular has been issued by her office. She said the president of the school management should be contacted in this connection.

When the president was tried to reach on his mobile phone, his driver, who picked it up, said the former was not available for comments to mediapersons. 

Barnala, April 1
The Punjab Government has released Rs 18.68 crore as part of the grant to non-government aided colleges. Stating this here today, Prof R.S. Brar and Dr Jagwant Singh, state president and general secretary, respectively, of the PCCTU welcomed the release of the grant as it would offer relief to private college teachers. — OC