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State to procure wheat from April 1
Daduwal followers turn heat on Badal govt
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Remove calendars with Badal’s pictures: EC
Sangrur: Cong may field Hindu candidate
Speed up candidates’ list, central Cong told
VVIP duties stop cops from producing accused in courts
SAD to have separate manifesto
Power JEs resent stalled promotions
With no heads, consumer forums paralysed
Keep peace, SGPC tells UK Sikhs
Ludhiana eye centre approved under ECHS
Agitating family ‘offered’ aid
Fresh samples
Warrants against DLF chief
ISI-backed spy ring busted
ETO held for accepting bribe
Ex-MLA’s wife dies in accident
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State to procure wheat from April 1
Chandigarh, March 18 The department is said to have got a limit of Rs 12,153 crore sanctioned from the Reserve Bank of India for disbursement to farmers. Since direct payment to farmers online is still not a reality, the government has asked the 45,000 odd artiyas in Punjab to give their bank accounts so that the money can be credited to their accounts and they can then in turn pay the farmers. As 100 per cent payment to artiyas online may not become reality this procurement season, payments are also likely to be made through cheques to
artiyas, who will then disburse the same to the farmers. Wheat and paddy procurement was one of the biggest revenue earners for Punjab last year with the state government accumulating Rs 2,800 crore through taxes and levy. The Punjab government has with the intervention of Director, General Supply and Disposal, of the Union government managed to procure Rs 2,33,000 bales of gunny bags (each bale contains 500 bags) and in addition to meet any shortage for the first time 1 lakh bales of plastic bags have also been received. Sources said though various agencies were expecting about 1 crore tonnes of wheat, it had made preparations for another 15 lakh tonnes to meet emergencies. “We have a storage capacity of 1 crore and 70 lakh tonnes out of this 45 lakh tonnes will be stored in godowns and 23 lakh tonnes on plinths,” an official said. The government has repeatedly alleged shortage of storage space on account of slow movement of foodgrains out of Punjab. It has repeatedly asked the rail ministry to increase wagons for transportation of wheat and paddy. The government has also announced the enhancement in rent from 35 paise to 50 paise per bag. Deputy Commissioners in Doaba and Majha regions have been asked to take stock of the situation and ensure quick procurement and early disbursements to farmers. The government as decided to use godowns of the Central Warehousing Corporation, industrial sheds, sugar and rice mill premises. The Divisional Commissioner of
Ferozepur, Patiala and Jalandhar have been asked to procurement process. Incidentally, the Food Corporation of India has decided to increase its share in procurement of total wheat that arrives in the mandis from 10 to 20 per cent this year.
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Daduwal followers turn heat on Badal govt
Bathinda, March 18 Daduwal, along with eight radical Sikhs, is in the custody of the Faridkot police till March 31 in connection with a case of attempt to murder, while more than 80 of his followers are in different jails in a separate case. Submitting a memorandum to the district administration authorities, they had convened a meeting for March 24 where a call to start a “dharam yudh morcha” would be given. The meeting is likely to be attended by leaders of the Sant Samaj, Damdami Taksal, Ek Noor Khalsa Fauj and others. A number of leaders belonging to the SAD and the Vishva Hindu Parishad also took part in today’s protest. “With the recent incident, it is clear that the Badal government is doing all such to secure dera votes but in such attempt they are overlooking the origin of the SAD as a “panthak party”. In this incident, Baba Baljeet Singh Daduwal has been put behind bars while the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda is still moving free, despite various charges framed against him,” alleged protesters. Raising anti-government slogans and accusing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of being biased to the Sikhs to get votes of Dera Sacha Sauda followers, the crowd even announced to adopt an anti-Badal policy during the elections. Earlier in the morning, a meeting was arranged at Gurdwara Hazi Rattan. It was attended by radical Sikhs and dignitaries of political and religious parties. They took out a march raising slogans of “Jo Bole So Nihal ...”. At the dharna site, one SP, two DSPs and four SHOs were present with a large number cops. Water cannons and anti-riot vehicles were stationed there to meet any eventuality. More taken into preventive custody In an attempt to defuse the tension erupted over the call of Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh to send suicide volunteers (marjeevde) to Salabatpura, punjab headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda on March 22, the district police has started detaining hardliner followers. According to sources, the police has detained Sikh leaders including, Bhola Singh of Gumti Kalan, Mohinder Singh of Maur Mandi, Karnail Singh of Bhucho Mandi and Varinder Singh of Bathinda. The main target of the police is Daljeet Singh Bittu, president of the SAD (Panch Pardhani), and his followers. SP (D), Ajay Maluja said: “There are still a number of hardliners, who are at large, but soon they would be picked up, considering the preventive measures.”
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Remove calendars with Badal’s pictures: EC Chandigarh, March 18 All government offices will be required to remove calendars or photographs of the government officials, including those of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. “However, there is no direction on the photographs of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh adorning the walls in many offices,” a senior official said. Sources in the office of the CEO said the directions came from the EC after the CEO sought a clarification regarding certain complaints received by the office, saying the calendars, posters and banners put up in many government buildings contained the “achievements of the SAD-BJP” government during its current tenure. “The main objection is to the picture of Sukhbir Badal and the laudatory text accompanying it,” an official said. However, a senior functionary of the Punjab government said, “We have, so far, not received any direction on the matter, but if it is conveyed to us, we will act upon it.” It is learnt that the EC told the CEO’s office that in case there was any reluctance to remove the calendars and posters, these should be reversed till the model code of conduct was in place. Meanwhile, the CEO has also issued instructions that no government official should approach her directly. “All officials have been asked to come to the office of the CEO through proper channel only,” a source said.
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Sangrur: Cong may field Hindu candidate
Sangrur, March 18 The four Jat Sikh candidates announced by the major political parties are: Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (SAD), Simranjit Singh Mann (SAD-A), Balwant Singh Ramoowalia (LBP) and Madanjit Singh Balian (BSP). According to sources, the possibility of fielding a Hindu candidate by the Congress from Sangrur can’t be ruled out this time also due to the presence of four Jat Sikh candidates in the fray. Balian, though is a candidate of the BSP, he has influence to some extent in some areas with the Akali vote bank. Two more names, former Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla and former Punjab Youth Congress president Vijay Inder Singla, have also doing rounds for the Sangrur seat. The Congress might consider the demand of the Aggarwal community of the Malwa belt to allot at least two tickets to its representatives. As per the information, Surinder Singla and Vijay Inder Singla, both belonging to the Aggarwal community, are also among the front-runner candidates for the Congress ticket. Earlier on March 2, when AICC observer GS Bali had visited Sangrur, it was felt by many that six persons were in the race for the Sangrur ticket: Sangrur MLA Surinder Pal Singh Sibia, Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon, ex-minister Jasbir Singh Sangrur, Sangrur ex-MLA Arvind Khanna, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal’s son Rahul Inder Singh Sidhu and former member of the PPSC Ajaib Singh.
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Poll Code
Amritsar, March 18 Home district of Bhagwant Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, in quarterly gradation and distribution list of officers of the IAS (Punjab cadre) and PCS, corrected till January 15, 1998, has been shown as Amritsar. The list is published by the Punjab government’s Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms. The DC feigned ignorance about the gradation list of 1998. According to Kusmjit Sidhu, Chief Electoral Officer, said the list of 2001 has mentioned his home district as Ropar. Bhagwant said certain vested interests had been trying to harm him. Similarly, a senior official has been posted at Mohali though he has been living there for more than 20 years. Another senior officer from Amritsar has also got his home district changed. District Congress Committee (rural) president Sukhjinder Raj Singh (Lalli) Majithia, however, in a complaint to the Chief Election Commission sought shifting of the DC and action against MP Navjot Singh Sidhu for alleged poll code violations. However, Bhagwant said he never visited the residence of Rajinder Mohan Chhina and his hometown was Ropar and not Amritsar. He refuted allegations of the DCC rural president. Majithia, in a letter to the chief electoral officer (CEO), alleged that the DC belonged to Amritsar and got his permanent address changed to Ropar to circumvent Election Commission guidelines. He said Bhagwant also visited the house of BJP state secretary, Rajinder Mohan Chhina during the visit of Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal in Amritsar, which also amounted to violation of the model code of conduct in force for the Lok Sabha elections. He urged the CEO to shift the DC to ensure free and fair elections. Meanwhile, in another complaint, Lalli Majitha also sought BJP-Akali candidate from Amritsar Sidhu debarred for alleged violation of the code. He said Sidhu and his party’s alliance leaders tried to influence voters at a rally in Baba Buddha gurdwara at Ramdass village on March 16.
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Speed up candidates’ list, central Cong told
New Delhi, March 18 Speculation about names in the print media and on television was sending a wrong impression about the party, said a senior Congress leader while confirming that the high command had been requested to speed up the process. Sources said the Congress high command was informed how names of possible candidates were being added or deleted by the media. Applicants were now propping up their names through newspapers and television. The language media, that holds sway in rural areas of Punjab, was having a free run with a daily front page news about possible candidates. The party bosses were also informed that this could also aid infighting. The ruling SAD-BJP combine has announced candidates for all seats, but one in Punjab. The central election committee of the Congress has been unable to take up the Punjab list. The first meeting was pre-Holi where candidates of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were decided. Punjab was postponed. It was expected that the meeting would take up the Punjab list last weekend. But this did not happen.
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VVIP duties stop cops from producing accused in courts
Chandigarh, March 18 The stand has just not gone down well with the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Refusing to accept the excuse, Justice LN Mittal of the high court has asked Punjab’s principal secretary, home affairs and justice department, to file an affidavit “as to why the accused are not being produced in the court on dates fixed, on the ground of the VVIP visits”. He has also been asked to detail upon the steps that “would be taken by the State of Punjab to ensure that no such lapses occur in future in any case”. As the issue cropped up for deliberation, superintendents of Ferozepur and Amritsar Central Jails were present in the court. The affidavits filed by them on the issue too were taken on record. After going through the affidavits and the arguments, Justice Mittal observed “the accused could not be produced in the court concerned on the dates fixed because police escort was not made available by the police authorities. “Superintendent, Central jail, Ferozepur, has laid the blame at the door of Senior Superintendent of Police, Ferozepur; whereas the superintendent, Central jail, Amritsar, has blamed SSP, Tarn Taran”. Justice Mittal asserted: “The excuse for not providing police escort to take the accused in custody from jail to the court, that has been stated by the police authorities, is that police escort was not available on account of VVIP visits. “This excuse cannot be accepted because if the state has to detain the accused in custody, it is also the responsibility of the state to make arrangements for producing the accused in the court concerned on the date fixed and to obtain authorisation from the court for further detention in jail. Otherwise, future detention in jail without authority or the order of the court would be illegal detention.” Before parting with the directions, Justice Mittal exempted the jail superintendents from personal appearance before the court. The issue will now come up for further consideration in April.
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Terrorised, Pak Hindus don’t want to go back
Amritsar, March 18 These families, consisting of 22 members, are part of a jatha comprising 314 members from Sindh, Baluchistan and other provinces of Pakistan. They arrived in India yesterday by Samjauta Express to participate in the 49th death anniversary of Raja Sahib Shadani Darbar in Raipur (Chattisgarh). Ghansham Das (72), a grocery merchant from Ghotki district, Sindh province, while talking to The Tribune today alleged that they were forced to close their business establishments as militants were allegedly extorting money from them to wage a war against anti-Islamist forces. He said the life of almost all families, including Sikh families, in the trouble-torn country had become miserable, especially after the Mumbai attack on November 26. Das said around 300 Hindu and Sikh families residing in areas adjoining the Swat valley had already taken shelter in various shrines. Pushpa Bai (53)of Jacocabad, also in Sindh province, claimed the women were confined to their houses for days together and could hardly move out of the house. She said whenever women had to move out for shopping they had to be accompanied by men members. President of the All-India Hindu Shiv Sena (AIHSS), Surinder Kumar Billa said his organisation would provide all-possible aid to these beleaguered families. Earlier, 35 Pakistani Hindus from North West Frontier province of Pakistan had taken shelter in India on March 5.
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SAD to have separate manifesto
Mansa, March 18 The Chief Minister said development done by the SAD-BJP and the Congress performance would be issues in the Lok Sabha election. The SAD would have a separate manifesto from the BJP. Badal ruled out the possibility of changing candidate for Khadoor Sahib seat. He stressed on removing unemployment in villages and for this a security training institute was being run at Hoshiarpur from where nearly 12,000 children were having training for jobs every year. He addressed meetings
at Sekhupur, Khudal, Kahangarh, Bareta, Kulrian, Bhawa, Chak Ali Sher, Andian Wali, Dhanpura and Saide wala villages. Former MP Chetan Singh Samaon, district president, SAD, Harbant Singh Datewas and youth leader Gurpreet Singh Banawali were among the speakers.
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Power JEs resent stalled promotions
Patiala, March 18 Sources in the Council of Junior Engineers of the PSEB said no meeting of the departmental promotion committee had been held to form a panel from among additional assistant engineers (JE-1) to assistant engineers and JEs (civil) to assistant engineers. Swarn Lal, president of the council, said here today that the promotion process in case of engineering officers was slower compared to administrative officers and junior engineers. More than 30 posts of assistant engineer (AE) had already become due in the promotion share of JEs till last month while senior engineers were being promoted up to the level of chief engineer immediately. Devinder Singh, general secretary of the council, said JEs were being harassed due to a hire-and-fire policy being adopted by the board regarding the release of tubewell connections and allocation of material. Swaran said there was no uniformity in the allocation of material due to which various works were held up and material could not be properly accounted for. Problems facing meter works might hit the power supply system in summers. More than 1,000 posts of JE were lying vacant in the Operation Department. The field authorities had started violating the board instructions for giving charge of JEs to assistant JEs. He said no date for discussion on important pending demands had been fixed yet by the management. The same was earlier postponed on two occasions. The council has urged the management to immediately finalise the promotion process for junior engineers and also to settle their long-pending demands, failing which the JEs would be compelled to resort to protests. Meanwhile, the council today announced an action plan to hold protests and dharnas.
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With no heads, consumer forums paralysed
Chandigarh, March 18 Other than the posts of presidents lying vacant, in some district, forums members have not been appointed yet. Due to the absence of presidents, the functioning of forums is brought to a halt as under Section 14 (2) A of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, it has been mandated that “every order made by the district forum under Sub-Section (1) shall be signed by its president and the member or the members who conduct the proceedings”. In the consumer disputes redressal forum at Barnala, Bathinda and Fatehgarh Sahib, the posts of presidents are lying vacant at present. While posts of eight members, including five female members, have yet to be filled at District Forums in Mohali, Barnala, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and
Ferozepur. Thus, to keep the show running, at least for a few days in a week, ad hoc arrangements are being made in some of the forums. For instance, after retirement of Gurdev Singh, president of Fatehgarh Saheb district forum, MR Batra, president of district forum, Ropar, visits Fatehgarh Saheb two days in a week. As a result, district forum of Ropar runs three days in a week in absence of Batra. Likewise, at the forum in Mohali, Veena Chahal, has been deputed there from the forum in Fatehgarh Saheb, due to which the forum at Mohali is functional. As per the information obtained by advocate HC Arora under the RTI Act, the appointments are held up in the Consumer Affairs Ministry. The president’s post fell vacant in the forum in Fatehgarh Saheb on March 10, 2009, whereas the selection committee had sent its recommendations to the state government with letter dated December 4, 2008.
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Keep peace, SGPC tells UK Sikhs
Amritsar, March 18 He described the burning of Gurdwara Sikh Sangat in East London as unfortunate, adding that the miscreants had committed an unpardonable crime. The SGPC president said he would soon write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for taking up the matter with the British government for conducting an inquiry into the incident and awarding exemplary punishment to its perpetrators. The act hurt the religious feelings of the community all over the world. He said the fire, suspected to be an outcome of racist attack, had not only gutted the building, but also damaged holy books, he added.
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Ludhiana eye centre approved under ECHS
Chandigarh, March 18 Confirming the development, Dr Navjot Singh Chugh said the hospital had received a communication after which the surgery centre, Model Town, became the only private centre to be approved under the ECHS scheme for the purpose of treatment and surgery of patients with eye ailments. The approval has been granted on the basis of the available infrastruture at the centre which is equipped with facilities including, Phaco surgery for cataract, lasik laser for spectacle removal, FFA (fundus fluorescein angiography), yag laser, green laser for treatment of diabetics, automated perimetry, etc. This has been done for the convenience of ex-servicemen, who have a huge concentration in Ludhiana district. All ECHS cardholders will now be able to avail cashless treatment from this centre after getting themselves referred from the nearest ECHS polyclinic.
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Agitating family ‘offered’ aid
Nabha, March 18 The administration is under tremendous pressure that parties could make it a poll issue. Ajaib claimed that his house had allegedly been demolished by people of upper caste belonging to the SAD. A senior officer said according to legal experts, the case had no relevance, but they would like to avoid the matter taking an ugly turn with the interference of politicians.
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Fresh samples
Chandigarh, March 18 Expressing concern, the Bench asked the PPCB to get the samples retested after collecting them without intimating the management. The CPCB was also asked to inform the court whether the ETP still required restructuring in view of the sample results. A report on the basis of the samples results was also placed on the court record. The report, in form of an affidavit by environmental engineer-cum-nodal officer of PPCB Krunesh Garg, said the “concentration of various parameters — is bio-chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease for the meat processing industry — were within the permissible limits”. The affidavit said the PML was visited on March 5 and at that time, the industry was in operation and the slaughtering of buffaloes was in progress. The industry was operating at 60 per cent of its installed production capacity. Not all can meet Hawara Jail authorities believe it is unsafe to allow anyone, expect the blood relations, to meet Jagtar Singh Hawara, sentenced to death in Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case. He had filed an application seeking permission to meet relatives. In a reply to the application placed before Justice Mohinder Pal, additional inspector-general of police-cum-superintendent of Burail jail Navjotpal Singh Randhawa asserted if visitors other than the blood relations were allowed to meet him, it would be a threat to the jail security. Randhawa added there was every apprehension that Hawara could misuse the privilege. At present, Hawara is segregated, but not in solitary confinement. He, in the main petition filed through counsel Navkiran Singh, has already sought directions for declaring illegal the action of lodging him and co-accused Balwant Singh in solitude and segregation.
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Warrants against DLF chief
Ludhiana, March 18 The court of Judicial Magistrate Amit Thind also issued bailable arrest warrants against DLF’s general manager SK Sehajpal, Rahul Mehta, Mulakh Rai (chief manager) and Atul Shrivastava returnable by April 2. Earlier, the court had passed orders to summon all of them as accused to face the trial. It had been reported that the accused were evading summons. Out of eight accused in the case, only one, Gagandeep Singh, assistant manager, DLF, appeared before the court. He had already got interim bail by the court of an Additional Sessions Judge. A criminal case had been filed against DLF by Northern Trading and Impex’s director Poonam Mehra, accusing the former of cheating by backing off from a housing project, Haveli. An MoU for the Haveli project, involving 700 acres on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road, Dakha and Kailpur village, was signed on June 6, 2007. Following an assurance given by DLF, the trading company had paid more than Rs 6 crore to 90 farmers as earnest money. Upon this they were also entitled to Rs 8,89,50,000 as facilitation charges, but were not paid the same, says the complaint. It was also alleged that the officials of the trading company had been forced to sign a new MoU, favouring their interest.
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ISI-backed spy ring busted
Amritsar, March 18 Sensitive documents related to military installations, photographs, charts, movements of military units, diaries containing Pakistan telephone numbers and mobile phones and fake currency worth Rs 20,000 have been recovered from them. An FIR under Sections 489-A/B/C and 3 of the Official Secret Act has been registered. They have been identified as Naib Singh of Qila Nau village, Baldev Singh of Nangal, Sukhdev Singh, alias Bhola, of Sadiq and Randhir Singh, alias Master, of Green Avenue, Faridkot. The preliminary investigations have revealed a well-organised and directly controlled ISI network running the espionage ring. Two of its members, Naib Singh and Baldev Singh, have terrorist background and several cases under TADA against them. Naib visited Pakistan during 2007-08 while Sukhdev went twice there as part of religious jathas. These persons were in regular touch with Pakistan Intelligence Officers through mobile telephones and the Internet and were provided with funds routed through Dubai.
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ETO held for accepting bribe
Jalandhar, March 18 Surinderjit Singh Mand, SSP, Vigilance, Jalandhar, said the officer was arrested on the complaint of Sukhwinder, brother of a liquor shop owner. The complainant alleged that the ETO had been demanding money for liquor shop permit which he had applied in the names of his father and brother. Mand said the complainant met the ETO in this connection on Tuesday, but the officer refused to issue him permit and demanded Rs 50,000 for it. Sukhwinder approached the VB and complained against the ETO, the SSP added. The VB laid trap and sent the complainant to the ETO with marked currency notes worth Rs 30,000. As the “deal” was struck between the two parties, the VB men caught him and recovered the money from him in the presence of official witnesses Harjinder Singh and Som Nath Verma, SDOs, PWD (B&R), Jalandhar cantonment. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the ETO at Jalandhar.
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Ex-MLA’s wife dies in accident
Nabha, March 18 Krishna, along with her son Jagdish Chand, daughter-in-law Indira, brother Deep Chand, his daughter-in-law Anu and seven-year-old Jatin, was coming to Nabha to attend a bhog ceremony in their Ford car. They were rushed to the Civil Hospital, Nabha, where Krishna was declared brought dead.
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