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MC talks tough on encroachment
Woman’s remarks create row, held
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Rajasthan elections
Picking of cotton in full swing near Indo-Pak border in Abohar area. Photo: Raj Sadosh
Farmers at the Barnala Cotton Mandi waiting for CCI officials to lift their crop. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera
Concern over illegal immigrants
More reduction in fuel prices demanded
Ration kits distributed
Book fair organised
Iqbal Sandhu elected to PU syndicate
EGS teachers to go on warpath
Youth shot at, hospitalised
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MC talks tough on encroachment
Moga, December 7 These notices were slapped in the wake of a recent High Court order to remove encroachments along national highways and other scheduled roads in all the cities and towns of the state so as to remove all hindrances for the convenience and safety of the commuters. The MC authorities has given eight days time to remove all encroachments and warned that otherwise, the buildings/structures that had come up after 1995 in violation of the PUDA Act and Public Premises Act would face demolition. The council authorities had issued these notices on the basis of a survey to those violators who had not left five metres of area on the sides of the roads before constructing their buildings. It may be mentioned that during the past one decade, the local administration, the authorities concerned of the national highway authority and the local body had on a number of occasions tried to the remove encroachments along the roadsides but never acted upon after slapping notices probably under political pressure. This time, the MC authorities had come under the scanner of the High Court and the local people believe that something would surely happen positively to remove the encroachments. The High Court had also sought an affidavit within a month on whether all encroachments had been removed or not. A division bench of the High Court on November 20 this year made it clear to impose exemplary costs on Ferozepore-based executive engineer of Central works (B&R) and others who had filed a false reply with regard to the acquisition of a piece of land along the highway in Bilaspur village of Moga district. Therefore, with regard to the removal of encroachments, the MC and authorities of all other related departments seems to be quite serious as filing a false affidavit could also land them into trouble. The Tribune has from time to time highlighted that a large number of unauthorised structures had come up along the highways within the MC limits during the past few years. Many government and private commercial buildings including the residences of the district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate had encroached upon public land in violation of the PUDA Act, Public Premises Act and the National Highway rules. No matter, the buildings that were constructed before the coming into force of the PUDA Act were regularised by amending the Act in the year 1995-96 itself but since then there were only few takers in complying with the new building laws. Interestingly, it has also come to the notice of local body authorities that many buildings had also come up along the highways without seeking approval of building plans/designs from the competent authorities. |
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Illegal colonies mushrooming
Moga, December 7 |
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Woman’s remarks create row, held
Bathinda, December 7 Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members said they were conducting a meeting there when the woman in question, who calls herself the chairman of the minority cell of the Congress in Bathinda, along with some others, approached them and asked them to leave the place as she wanted to offer prayers. “Nagina Begum made insulting remarks,” Sukhpal Singh Sra, VHP secretary alleged at a press conference here today. VHP leaders alleged that Nagina also threatened to resort to large-scale violence if she was stopped from doing what she wanted. She also started inciting people, which was reported to the SSP, that resulted in her arrest, VHP leaders said. Sra also said at the press conference that the threat of large-scale violence could be reciprocated and would have a cascading effect. VHP members warned the administration about people like her residing in the city and said if she was not thrown out then the administration would be responsible for the consequences. SSP Ashish Chaudhary, when contacted, said, “We have made preventive arrests as the other party was alleging misconduct on her part. She has been arrested under sections 107 and 151 of the CRPC. We would look into the matter and verify the allegations levelled against her. She was to be produced in front of the SDM today. It is a sensitive issue and we are verifying things.” SDM KPS Mahi said, “Some law and order problem was reported today which resulted in a woman’s arrest. She was produced before me. This has never happened in Bathinda before.” Nagina could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Sources who managed to speak to her immediately after the incident stated that she denied saying anything about large-scale violence and reportedly said that all allegations levelled against her were baseless. Mohammed Siddique who takes care of the religious place, gave a different version. “My ancestors made this in 1947 and there is a graveyard of my family close to it. Every year, we marry off poor girls and organise blood donation camps also. This year also, we planned to marry off five girls on December 16. At around 5 pm today, around 200 men belonging to one particular community came and threatened to kill me if we went ahead with the plan of marrying the girls. They asked me to leave this place with my family. “My wife and daughter were also verbally abused by these men. Nagina, who is supporting us, was unnecessarily arrested by the police. Some people are trying to build up communal tension in the city and we don’t want to be a part of it. There was no problem created last year, we married off the girls peacefully. They came and threw away the stuff that we had purchased for the marriage and told me that doing so was none of my business.” |
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Counting today, results by noon
Raj Sadosh
Hanumangarh/ Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 7 Giving details of the arrangements, she said that each Assembly segment will have 14 tables for counting. There will be counting observer, supervisor and assistant, one each for every table. In all, there will be 105 persons from the administration for each constituency. Out of the 5270 postal ballots issued by the authorities, 3015 ballots had been received so far. Other employees can poll their postal ballot on Monday morning in the respective counting hall of their segment. She said the parking of vehicles will be allowed in the college parking place. Mobile phones and smoking have been completely banned. No one will be permitted to carry bag etc. Additional SP Anil Katyal said there will be three layer security arrangements at the counting centre. The Sriganganagar district administration has also finalised arrangements for the counting of votes tomorrow. District magistrate Bhawani Singh Detha, during a meeting, finalised the modalities with deputy district returning officer Parmeshwer Lal, additional district magistrate S.S. Panwar and Khazan Singh, secretary of the Urban Improvement Trust. He informed that counting would start at 8 am on Monday. All the returning officers have been asked to check the required material tonight itself. None will be permitted to enter the counting hall with mobile phone. Smoking has also been prohibited. Eighty tables have been provided for counting of votes for six Assembly segments. Candidates will be allowed to watch the counting of postal ballots at 8 am. Monday will again be a dry day. Even persons in inebriated condition will not be allowed to walk on the road. Liquor shops indulging in violation will be sealed. The DC, while exercising the powers conferred on him under section 144 of the CrPC, has banned victory processions, public meetings besides use of loudspeaker all over district Sriganganagar till December 13. The police have been directed to ensure that political workers do not block any of the city roads.
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Cotton picking in full swing in border areas
Near Zero line, December 7 Cattle were seen grazing and farmers taking green fodder from the fields to feed them later. Milkmen were also found collecting milk to meet the demand of their urban customers. A drive through border villages including
Bakayanwala, Khakha and Kotha during the election coverage indicated that the morale of the border area residents was high. Those aged above 50 remember the ghastly effect of attacks by the Pakistan army in 1965 and 1971 in this sector where advantage had been theirs due to the strategic location. The farmers have not forgotten the loss they suffered due to carpeting of the area with mines after the Kargil episode but none looked panicky
this time. Most of them had no regular access to newspapers but they have been watching DD besides the PTV transmission regularly to understand the current developments. Some of the villagers confirmed that signals from cellular services based in Pakistan also reach their mobile phones. This confirmed that the neighbouring country had also installed towers to provide cell phone service to the border residents on their side. Some of the residents regretted Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's refusal to repatriate the known fugitives to India. One Swaran Singh said Zardari should have changed his attitude towards terrorism after his wife's assassination. “We will extend all kind of support to our Army if India takes on Pakistan to wipe out terrorists,” he said. |
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Barnala cotton mandi witnesses glut
Barnala, December 7 Darshan Singh, a farmer from village Sangera in Barnala has been camping at the mandi for 13 days but is yet to see his crop being purchased. Similar is the case of Bhola Singh, a farmer from Karamgarh in the district and Harnek Singh who too have been waiting for ten days now for the CCI to life the crop. However, when contacted, CCI purchase officer for the region Harcharan Singh Bhatia refuted all such charges. He denied that he was visiting the mandi only twice a week saying that purchase was being made at the mandi every third day. Bhatia also said that the fact could be verified from the market committee register. The purchase officer said that 30,000 quintals of cotton had been purchased from the Barnala cotton mandi so far. He said that the CCI has to look at the ginning capacity before making purchases and blamed 'false propaganda' as for creating panic among farmers. He said there were elements who hurried farmers into selling their stock saying that if they do not do so, the CCI might end the purchasing process leaving them in the lurch. He also said that the cotton stock at the mandi was overflowing because the capacity for storage also varies from mandi to mandi. Bhatia said that for 28 mm crop, it was Rs 280 per quintal, for 27 mm crop, it was Rs 2700 per quintal and for 26 cm crop, it was Rs 2600 per quintal. He said eight per cent moisture was permissible in the crop and for moisture content above it, deductions in price were made accordingly. |
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Concern over illegal immigrants
Bathinda, December 7 “The Bangladeshi network is increasing and they operate under ISI cover. The government agrees that there are 3 crore Bangladeshis here but the number is more according to surveys conducted. There is a Muslim leader in Assam who is also a Bangladeshi, gets made ration cards illegally for these intruders who call themselves Indians after getting their cards and get involved in terrorist activities here. The government in Assam is running due to Bangladeshis as they have been able to secure a strong foothold in Assam,” said Asutosh Tewari, state joint secretary, ABVP. Advocate Kamaljeet Singh, national executive member of the ABVP, attended the seminar and senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal was the chief guest at the seminar. Many students, teachers and other attended the seminar and discussed the recent terror attack that rocked Mumbai, the commercial capital of India. The ABVP also announced that around one lakh students would gather in Bihar on December 17 and would voice their concern over the growing Bangladeshi population in India. They would also ask the government to make necessary arrangements at the border to curb intrusion. |
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More reduction in fuel prices demanded
Mansa, December 7 District president of BKU, Ram Singh Bhainibagha said that the union would stage dharna in front of SDM offices in the whole of Punjab in support of their demand on December 10. The Radical People's Forum said that reduction was not only meagre but also late in comparison with international market prices. Forum leaders, Sukhdarshan Singh Natt and Jaspal Singh Khokhar said that oil prices should be controlled independently and these should not be connected with the international market. This step would ensure the success of five-year plans, they added. Shabhyachark Chetna Manch, Mansa, said petrol and diesel were yet so dear that these were out of the reach of the common man. President of the Manch, Kamaljeet Malwa said that the price of the oil should be decreased more and the prices of cooking gas and kerosene should also be reduced. Former MLA Butta Singh said that the Central government should reduce the oil prices further. |
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Ration kits distributed
Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 7 Most of the candidates of leading political parties had assured to facilitate resumption of normal functioning to them, some also promised to participate in the weekly Naam Charcha once in a month, sources confirmed. This was indicative from the heavy turnout during the Naam Charcha on Sunday in all towns of Sriganganagar, a day before the counting of votes. The Shah Satnam Ji Green Force wing of the food bank today distributed monthly ration kits among 45 needy families during the Naam Charcha in the Naam Ghar located on the Padampur bypass. Surinder Insan said that these families had been identified by a 7-member committee. Dera spokesman Lakhjit Singh Insan informed that such service projects were taken up by all the deras.
— OC |
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Book fair organised
Bathinda, December 7 Prashar said the book fair aims to inculcate interest among the students. College librarian Manish Bansal said the college has around 60,000 books in its library but they are not in good condition.
— TNS |
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Iqbal Sandhu elected to PU syndicate
Abohar, December 7 Sources said that 91 members of the PU senate were to elect 15 members to the syndicate. Three of them were to be elected from the Arts faculty by 49 senate members. Information received from Chandigarh by the DAV campus here indicated that 44 senators polled votes. Winners included Iqbal Singh Sandhu of Abohar, Prabhjit Singh of Chandigarh and Gurdeep Sharma from Haryana. Notably, Sandhu had won the senate election by polling maximum number of votes a few months back.
— OC |
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EGS teachers to go on warpath
Bathinda, December 7 Talking to TNS over phone, Sunil Kumar, state secretary of the union, alleged that despite the Punjab government's decision, the SCERT was not providing them admission to the special training
(D.Ed) that they were assured of and for which they had submitted the forms about four months back. Discontented, the teachers have now decided to launch an agitation against the state government and the SCERT alike in case action was not taken on the issue. "Soon, we would meet the Chief Minister and submit a memorandum to him. Then, we will decide the further course of action," Kumar said. The representatives of Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar, Ferozepur, Barnala and Mansa took part in the meeting.
— TNS |
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Youth shot at, hospitalised
Bathinda, December 7 The youth, who sustained three bullet wounds on his leg, has been identified as Dipu Kohli. He has now been referred to a hospital at Ludhiana. The incident occurred behind the Hotel Bahia Fort in broad daylight and the miscreants escaped from there as there was no police in the area. Residents of the locality complained that the police arrived at the spot 30 minutes after the incident. |
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today at a religious place near the stadium which resulted in the arrest of one Nagina Begum after she reportedly tried to disturb communal harmony and started threatening people conducting a meeting there.
