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Rajnath dares Azad
Amritsar, June 16 Mr Rajnath Singh said here today if Mr Azad believed in democratic values then cases against BJP national leaders must be withdrawn forthwith. The BJP president said they (leaders), in the course of party’s satyagrah at Jammu against the killings of innocent people at
Doda, had criticised the soft approach to terrorism by the J&K Government on June 8. Mr Katiyar and Mr Verma had announced to give a reward of Rs 1 lakh to any civilian who would kill militants. He said they, to lift sagging morale of the people, had announced the rewards. He added terrorists were targeting Hindus and Muslims. He stated “the terrorists are getting active support from their patrons from across the border in Pakistan and also from their sympathizers who enjoy support in some segment of the government.” He said however, it was terrible that responsible public leaders were demanding freedom of Kashmir openly and advocated involvement of Pakistan in negotiation with India were never booked. He condemned the J&K police for slapping the most serious charge under section for IPC 124 A (sedition) of the IPC punishable with life term and Section 153-A (enmity between different group on grounds of religion, race etc.) against Mr Katiyar and Mr Verma. He remarked that cases of sedition for speaking against handling of terrorism was not only unconstitutional and undemocratic but manifested dictatorial mindset.
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Doab canal faces breaches
Gurdaspur June 16 At many places banks of the canal were damaged. Erosion of banks of the canal has made it breach-prone. Maximum damage to the canal was noticed near the Sathiali head. The Irrigation Department had tried to stop the erosion by fixing bamboos in the area. However, the measure was not good enough due to strong current of water in the area. The entire stretch of banks was covered with thick growth of elephant grass. From the condition of the canal it can be concluded that no maintenance had been done on the canal since long. The Executive Engineer in charge of the branch Mr Kataria admitted that the canal was in poor state in the said areas. He said the matter had been reported to higher authorities of the department for a decision on the matter. The banks generally get eroded in the areas near heads. Near heads force of water is high due to which the banks get eroded. On the overall poor state of the canal he said since long no funds had been released for strengthening banks of the canal, so no repair works could be carried. The sources, however, told The Tribune that huge amount was released for remodelling the said portion of canal. However, most of the funds were embezzled leading to the UBDC scam. Though crores were allegedly swindled in the scam the government has failed to bring to the book the officials responsible for damaging the UBDC structure. An FIR in the UBDC scam was registered four years ago but the challan has not yet been filed. Sources also said that lakhs were released every year for the maintenance and other works of the canal. Many works are, however, carried in papers only. Most of the officials and contractors working at the canal enjoy protonage of local politicians. Generally the ministers and MLAs vie to get their favourites posted in their jurisdictions. Due to it generally no action is taken after a scam or swindling comes to light.
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Sukhbir booked for ‘beating up’ photographer
Faridkot, June 16 The complainant, Ajay Verma, who was working as a photographer for a vernacular daily, had alleged that Akali workers had damaged a car on September 5, 1999, while polling was on for the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat. He alleged that when he was clicking photographs on the spot, Mr Sukhbir Badal, along with the four individuals reached there and “beat him up” and snatched his camera. The complainant moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court reportedly after no action was taken against the Akali leader on his complaint. The registration of a case against Mr Badal and others came after the directions of the High Court. Mr Badal and others have been booked under Sections 392, 323, 202, 324 and 34 of the IPC. This is the second such case in which Mr Badal has been booked. Earlier, following directions of the High Court, he, among others, was booked on June 21, 2002, on the charge of attempt to kill a photographer during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. He was booked under Sections 307, 382, 342, 148 and 149, IPC, at Kotkapura police station on a complaint by another photographer, Naresh Sehgal. He too had alleged that Mr Badal and his supporters had assaulted him, snatched his camera and kept him in wrongful confinement on September 5, 1999, when he was doing his professional duty of filming the Lok Sabha election in the Faridkot constituency. Sehgal had moved the High Court when the police reportedly failed to register his complaint against Mr Badal.
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Farmers allege illegal felling; probe ordered
Hoshiarpur, June 16 They have submitted their complaints in the form of affidavits to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.K. Tiwari. As per the copy of the complaints, which is available with The Tribune, the farmers are alleging that their trees are being felled illegally by the contractors in connivance with the forest officials. Bishan Dass, an 80-year-old farmer owning 500 kanal of forest land, alleged that the contractors had been felling trees illegally from his land. He had repeatedly complained about the matter to the forest and other authorities but to no avail, he said. Satpal, another resident of the village, in a complaint submitted recently, alleged that large-scale illegal felling was taking place in the village. He alleged that the contractors had collected permits for felling dead and dry trees in the village. However, in the garb of felling dead and dry trees they were felling green trees of small and poor farmers. Whenever the farmers complained about illegal felling in their area, the officials threatened to implicate them in fabricated cases through the forest contractors, he alleged. Pawan Kumar, another farmer in an affidavit, alleged that contractors allegedly in connivance with forest officials had felled large number of trees from his forest land. The farmers are alleging that they are not been given any or meagre compensation for the trees being felled illegally from their forests. None of the forest officials was available for comments on matter. The Tribune had reported earlier also about the illegal felling of trees in Kukanate village falling in Dholbaha range of the Hoshiarpur Forest Division. The Deputy Commissioner has constituted a team of three officers, including SDM, Hoshiarpur, Assistant Commissioner, Grievances and local Tehsildar, to probe into the illegal felling of trees in Kukanate village. It is worth mentioning here that the Kukanate village did not fell in the planned felling program for this year. Still, large numbers of green trees were felled illegally.
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Chandumajra lashes out at state govt, SGPC
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 16 He said that the government has made it a Congress show by making Janardhan Dwivedi, Incharge of Congress Affairs in the state, the chief guest. The SGPC has made it a SAD (B) show as on the behest of Mr Badal, the party has invited non-Panthic leaders by ignoring Panthic organisations. He said that the government has forgotten that it is being run by the taxes paid by the people and not by the funds from the Congress. He said that the government should have invited all those intellectuals, who have great knowledge about the life, teachings and philosophy of Guru Arjan Dev. He said that similarly the SGPC has become a tool in the hands of Mr Badal and its functioning was being dominated by him. He said that the SGPC president is a puppet in the hand of Mr Badal and at his behest, the SGPC has invited the BJP Chief, Chief Ministers and former Prime Ministers but did not invite the leaders of Panthic organisations. He said that to take political mileage from the name of the Gurus, who made sacrifices for mankind is a cruel joke. He said that Mr Badal can no more befool the people of the state. He further criticised the SGPC for not providing the documents of Jathedars of the Takhts to the Embassy of Pakistan. He said that according to Pakistani officials, the negligence on the part of the SGPC has resulted in the refusal of visa to the Jathedars. He alleged the SGPC has done it knowingly fearing that the Jathedars would get more importance than Mr Badal and other ‘so-called’ Sikh leaders.
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Civil Hospitals without radiologists
Sangrur, June 16 There are five ultrasound machines, registered under the PNDT Act in the Civil Hospitals in Sangrur district. However, only the Sunam Civil Hospital has a doctor to run the ultrasound centre there. Two radiologists, working at the Sangrur and Barnala Civil Hospitals, have established own scan centres by leaving government jobs recently. The radiologist, earlier working at the Sangrur Civil Hospital, opened a scan centre in front of the local Civil Hospital, while the radiologist, working at the Barnala Civil Hospital, also opened his centre in front of the Civil Hospital at Barnala. The patients of Barnala and Sangrur Civil Hospitals, which have no radiologist/authorised doctor, will have to opt for private
ultrasonography. Dr S.K. Bansal, Civil Surgeon, Sangrur, admitted following resignations by the radiologists, working in the Sangrur and Barnala Civil Hospitals, patients of these hospitals certainly face difficulties for scanning. Dr Bansal also said as out of five ultrasound machines, four had no radiologist/authorised doctor, so he would take up the matter with the state government to give training to the medical officers (MOs), so that these machines might be made operational for the welfare of public. He said any ultrasound machine could be run by a radiologist, or an MO with six months’ training in
ultrasonography, or doctor having one-year experience in handling the ultrasound machine. In view of the shortage of radiologists in the state, Dr Surinder Singla, state general secretary of the
PCMSA, urged the state government to initiate steps to organise short training courses in ultrasonography for the government doctors on the pattern of training in other health programmes, like TB, AIDS, trauma etc. He added this would help the poor patients in getting them scanned at the government institutions at low cost. Besides, it would also benefit the doctors, who would become specialists in this field.
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Factionalism in truck union comes to the fore
Ropar, June 16 The police rounded up four truck operators of the truck operator group led by Mr Magar Singh. Both Mr Bhag Singh and Mr Magar Singh claimed to be the president of the truck operator union, having a strength of 1,100 truck operators. A large number of police personnel were deployed here to avoid any clash between the truck operators. The situation was aggravated when Punjab truck operator union president Tarlochan Singh came in the support of Mr Magar Singh and threatened to launch a “chakka jam” agitation in the district if the police and the administration interfered in their work and prevented Mr Magar Singh from managing truck operators. He said a few truck operators had separated from them as a majority of truck operators had decided to observe a strike against the Ambuja cement plant here for hiking loading charges. Mr Bhag Singh said he was the legally elected president of the truck operator union in 2003 for five years. He denied that they had separated from the other group over the Ambuja issue. Mr Tarlochan Singh met police officials in the evening and claimed that most truck operators were supporting Mr Magar Singh. Addressing a gathering of truck operators, he said they had deferred their strike. Mr Tarlochan Singh said the police had assured him that if Mr Magar Singh had the support of a majority of truck operators, it would not interfere, but they would resort to an agitation if truck operators were preventing from running their vehicles. SSP Kapil Dev said the police would not allow anyone to take the law into his hands. He denied that the police had rounded up any truck operator. He said Mr Tarlochan Singh had assured the police that he would not create any law and order problem here.
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Residents reel under power cuts
Ropar, June 16 The power cuts here have made the life of people miserable as the power cuts begin in the morning and continue till the afternoon. These are imposed again in evening and thereafter, again at night. The power crisis started since June 10, when the power consumption of the agricultural sector due to plantation of paddy increased to 400 lakh units. The power shortage in the state would continue during the paddy sowing season. Sources said with a view to reduce the power crisis, the PSEB had been purchasing 100 lakh units of power more than last year. Since June 10, the PSEB had been purchasing more than 500 lakh units from outside while last year the state had purchased 400 lakh units from other states. Sources in the PSEB said power consumption in the state had been increased up to 1,500 lakh units per day while the power supply from all sources in the state was more than 1,300 lakh units. The state had been getting 450 lakh units of power supply from thermal plants, 350 lakh units from hydel projects and 500 lakh units were purchased from other states. People living in urban areas, unlike previous years, had to face more power cuts as the state government had decided to provide eight-hour regular power supply in rural areas during the paddy plantation season. Power cuts in rural areas had to be same as in urban areas. Earlier power cuts in rural areas had been more than urban areas, the sources added.
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Nurpurbedi villagers seek bridge
Ropar, June 16 The situation will continue to remain grim during the monsoon. The temporary bridge would be again erected over the river after August. The situation further aggravated in the absence of boats for villagers to commute. Many of the villagers have their agricultural land on either side of the river. Many of the villagers of this subdivision have to cover 25 km from other routes to reach Anandpur Sahib. Every year the villagers have to face the same problem during monsoons. For the last 30 years the villagers of these areas have been demanding construction of a concrete bridge over the river. Every time during the elections the construction of the bridge is the major demand of the people of the area. Villagers Hardeep Singh, Bhajan Singh and Suchha Singh said that the villagers had to spend much time and extra money on transport in the absence of a bridge over the river. The temporary bridge over the river had been removed a few days ago. The local MLA, Mr Ramesh Dutt Sharma, said the state government had sanctioned Rs 44 crore for the construction of the bridge over the river and the foundation stone for the bridge would be laid soon. Besides, taking the plea of the villagers of the area, the Parliamentary Secretary, Industry and Commerce and local MLA, Mr K.P.S. Rana, in the grievance committee meeting directed PWD officials to make arrangements of boats for the villagers.
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Army man drowns in canal
Batala, June 16 According to the police, Sukhwinder Singh of Tibbar village had come to his home on leave 10 days ago. Yesterday morning, he left the house to answer the call of nature, but did not return. Sources said he might have slipped into the canal while washing his hands and drowned. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination at the local Civil Hospital.
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Granthi, sevadar murdered
Mansa, June 16 Sources said a police party, led by DSP Sukhdev Singh Chahal, rushed to the village on receiving the information of the murder of granthi Surjeet Singh and sevadar Gurnam Singh. The sources said the accused, Birbal Singh, reportedly wanted to take control of the gurdwara where the victims had been serving for the past three years. When he didn’t succeed in his efforts, he murdered both of them with sharpedged weapons.
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2 members of dacoits’ gang arrested
Hoshiarpur, June 16 Mr R. N. Dhoke, SSP, said here today that the arrested members had been identified as Pawan Kumar alias Pamma, a son of Sain Dass of Urmur, and Paramjit Singh, a son of Jarnail Singh of Bhulla . He said the duo along with their accomplice, Vijay Kumar, a son of Jeet Ram of Kharal Khurd, who was still at large, assaulted Gurmit Singh with sharp-edged weapons on May 23, 2006, while he was returning home on a motorcycle from Tanda. They snatched his mobile phone, gold chain, gold bangle and Rs 15,000 and escaped. Seriously injured Gurmit Singh was taken to a hospital. After regaining consciousness on May 30, 2006, he reported the matter to the police for which an FIR under Section 397 of the IPC was registered.
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MBA course for executives
Patiala, June 16 According to a university press release, the MBA course is specially meant for working executives who wish to enhance their skill and knowledge even as they want to continue with their professional occupations. Working executives with Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in any discipline with not less than 55 per cent marks ( 50 per cent in case of SC/ST candidates) marks in the aggregate are eligible for the course. Also eligible are candidates who have cleared the final examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or Cost and Works Accountants of India or Institute of Company Secretaries of India with two years whole time executive experience in an industrial establishment. Members of the All-India or state administrative or technical services and defence personnel holding administrative posts with not less than two years executive experience are also eligible. In all there will be 18 seats while six additional seats will be there for Industry or business sponsored candidates.
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