Kapurthala, July 13
The body of Naveen Sharma alias Rinku was cremated at Luxmi Narayan crematorium in a mournful atmosphere here this afternoon. He was murdered in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a week back.

The body was brought to Amritsar from Manila yesterday night, Naveen’s father Mr A.P. Sharma said.

Naveen’s Filipino wife Julie was also present at the crematorium. However, his two children could not arrive from the Philippines to attend the last rites of their father.

Mr Sharma rued that if the Manila police had taken his son to the hospital in time, he could have been saved.

“When Julie reached the site, she found Naveen lying in an unconscious state on the road. The police and nearly 50 persons were standing near him, but nobody bothered to take him to the hospital,” the victim’s father alleged.

Mr Sharma said several Punjabis then reached the spot and put his son in a police vehicle. “However the vehicle broke down on the way to the hospital. Then a private vehicle was hired to take Naveen to the hospital, but he was declared brought dead,” he added.

Naveen had been living in Manila for the past 13 years. He was a moneylender there.
One of his brothers and a sister live in England and another brother Navneet Sharma lives with his parents in Kapurthala.

Four months back on February 26, one Ravi Sharma from Preet Nagar in the city was also shot dead in the Philippines.

His body was brought back to his native place within a week with the efforts of the President of the Lok Bhalai Party, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. Ravi Sharma was also into money-lending.

Most Punjabis living in the Philippines are reportedly involved in an illegal money-lending business. Many of them are from Doaba.

The sudden spate of killings of Punjabis in the Philippines began five years back.

Nearly 100 Punjabis have been murdered in the Philippines since then. Seventy of them were from Doaba. 

The Indian ambassador to the Philippines, Mr Navrekha Sharma, has already brought the situation to the notice of the Indian government. Subsequently, Commissioner, Punjab, NRI Affairs, Mr N.S. Kalsi, wrote to the deputy commissioners of all districts that people should be discouraged from going to the Philippines.

Jalandhar, July 13
The cable network in Jalandhar is likely to become more organised, with chances of a reduction or uniformity in the existing subscription rates.

To redress the long pending demand of the residents in this regard, the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mr A. Venu Prasad, has called a meeting of the cable operators at his office tomorrow afternoon. Confirming this to The Tribune, the DC said he would ask the operators to follow the guidelines prescribed in the Cable Network Act.

The DC added that he had got many complaints from the subscribers in the recently-convened Grievances Committee meeting regarding the lack of clarity in the relay of several channels. He said some channels, including Doordarshan that were to be telecast as a mandatory provision, were not being relayed at many places, which too was against the Act.

Mr Prasad said even as there were no guidelines prescribed in the Act regarding the levying of cable subscription charges from the residents, he said he would certainly ask the operators to keep the rates uniform and lower them, in case these were far too high in some colonies.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Protection Council, Jalandhar, has also filed a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on behalf of the subscribers of Jalandhar Siti Cable and other operators under Section 12 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act for which it has been granted permission.

The complainant has challenged the enhancement of subscription rates from Rs 100 to Rs 300 at Urban Estate, Phase II, and asked the operators to restrain from doing so, besides disconnecting, snapping and stoppage of television cable transmission connection. The forum has passed the judgement in favour of the council. Earlier this year, the forum had taken a similar decision in the case of an application filed by the residents of Vasant Vihar Colony. 

Phagwara, July 13
At a time when Punjab is reeling under a severe power crisis, the brains behind power management have decided to reintroduce the nuclear power plant proposal.

Although the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, has brushed aside the proposal, the Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers’ Association feels this to be the best option for the state to bail itself out of the loop.

Punjab, which is running short of at least 350 lakh units of power everyday, is witnessing statewide electricity cuts lasting up to 10 hours.

Experts say power generation in the state has not increased in the last 10 years but power consumption is rising 10.4 per cent annually.

“A nuclear power plant is the best option. The state has exhausted all its hydro-potential and thermal power plants are not preferred because of the increased fuel investment,” Mr Parduman Singh, patron of the association, claimed.

As fuel investment in the nuclear plant is lesser compared to thermal stations, it would also be commercially beneficial to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

Fuel investment per unit in a nuclear plant is 60 paise in comparison to the coal-based thermal plant, which is nearly Rs 2.50.

“If we cannot have the plant, we must look for other avenues by bargaining larger share from Haryana,” he added.

Talking to The Tribune, senior PSEB officials said up-gradation of a few plants in the state was possible and that too with lower investments, which would increase generation capacity as well.

The officials added that the Ropar Thermal Plant could easily have two more units of 210-250 MW, for which they had enough land, tracks and the required infrastructure.

Kapurthala, July 13
The Punjab Government has finally woken up to the condition of the holy rivulet Kali Bein. On Monday, the Minister for Welfare of Schedule Castes and Backward Classes and Development of Women and Children, Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, released Rs 5 crore for cleaning the rivulet.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Raminder Singh, also said steps would be taken to make the historical rivulet free of pollution.

He said ponds in 42 villages located on the banks of the Bein would be widened and repaired to stop the flow of sewage into the rivulet.

Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) would be set up in four municipalities — Bholath and Begowal in Kapurthala district and Dasuya and Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district — located along the Kali Bein to stop the flow of sewage into it, he added.

The STPs had already been set up in Sultanpur Lodhi and Kapurthala municipalities, he said, adding that long pipes would be laid to take the treated water to the fields for irrigation purposes.

Apart from this, forestation would be done along the Kali Bein to make the surrounding areas green. Similarly, pipes connected to the suction pumps would be widened.

However, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, an environmentalist involved in the cleaning of the Bein, was apprehensive of the government plan to clean the rivulet. He said the funds had been released only a few months before the Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, work to clean the rivulet would start as soon as the technical committee constituted for the purpose submitted its report, which is expected by July 31.

Kapurthala, July 13
Balbir Masih (50) of Lamma village in Bholath police was found dead in his fields in near Bhogpur, Jalandhar, today. The body bore marks of stabbing. An FIR in this regard has been registered at the Bhogpur police station.

Phagwara, July 13
The police today arrested two persons and seized 16 boxes of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) from them at nearby Saprod village. The liquor was seized during a special checking of vehicles.

Those arrested have been identified as Rajpal and Pardeep Kumar, both residents of Khurla Kingra village in Phagwara.