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State proposes to seize human smugglers’ property
Tribune Impact
IMA demands resignation of PPSC chief
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Man sells off infant daughter
PAU 201: No headway yet
Death of Infants at Rajindra Hospital
Manpreet faces ire of legislators
Punjabi Tribune Editor bereaved
State to allot liquor vends on monopoly basis
Tribune Impact
Man rescues sister ‘forced’ into prostitution by mother
PPCB initiates action against 2 units
Bus catches fire
Ammonia plants to be revamped
Beant Singh Case
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Tribune Impact
Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 11 Mattewal was summoned to the House by Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon to give his legal opinion on the series of investigative reports carried out by The Tribune into corruption in the PPSC. Mattewal said though PPSC was a constitutional body, the members appointed to run the PPSC are expected to be honest and upright. But when allegations are made into the functioning or charges of corruption are levied, as has been done in the selection of doctors, the government could after preliminary investigation through the Vigilance Department headed by the chief secretary, order the registering of an FIR. Mattewal added that if there is proof of irregularity, the government also has the power to scrap the selection process. He added that this is not for the first time that such constitutional institutions have come under questioning for their fairness. Referring to the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), Mattewal said the commission filed a writ in the Supreme Court alleging interference from the government in its recruitment process. In that case, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government could get an inquiry and if anything is found amiss, an FIR could be registered and even the selection could be scrapped. It may be mentioned that The Tribune has carried a four part series recently on the selection of doctors, where bright candidates have been left out to accommodate the sons, daughter or other kin of judges, bureaucrats and other influential people. The series also pointed out that some senior officials of the state government outside the PPSC were also involved in the recruitment scam. The AG said as per the Article 166 of the Constitution that deals with corruption by public servants, the Vigilance Department under the chief secretary is competent to investigate. At this point Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal pointed out that the Chief Minister had already ordered an inquiry and the chief secretary has been asked to submit a report within one month.
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IMA demands resignation of PPSC chief
Patiala, March 11 Expressing dismay over the manner in which the PPSC conducted the recruitment process, representatives of the In-Service Doctors Wing (ISDW) of the state unit of the IMA have said, “The PPSC chairman should resign with immediate effect on moral grounds for his failure to complete the selection process of PCMS doctors in a fair and transparent manner.” Chairman and secretary of the ISDW, IMA, Dr DS Bhullar and Dr Gurinder Bir Singh, respectively, said, “It is clear that majority of the selected candidates were those who could not get admissions to undergraduate medical courses in the State Medical Colleges on merit and had secured degrees from private medical colleges having no proper merit criteria for selection to MBBS courses.” They said the “failure” of the PPSC in supplying information under the RTI Act about the recruitment of doctors had made it amply clear that “undue benefits” had been extended to many “influential” candidates. “The whole selection process needs a thorough probe,” they demanded.
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Man sells off infant daughter
Ludhiana, March 11 Sonu, an autorickshaw driver and a resident of the Islam Ganj area here, accepted the money and gave away his daughter, born on February 24, to a childless couple. According to SHO Basti Jodhewal, Mandeep Singh, the case came to light when Sonu's wife, Baby, complained personally yesterday to the Commissioner of Police, Ishwar Singh, about the incident. The Commissioner constituted a special team of Crime and Women Cell and SP-HQ Harish Kumar and launched a massive operation. The police caught hold of the couple and recovered the baby girl and handed her over to Baby. The SHO said the girl was born to the couple, already having four sons and an adopted daughter. It was an unwanted pregnancy but Baby did not want to abort the child. The couple came into contact with a childless couple who promised to adopt the child. When the date of delivery approached, the couple backed out. Then Sonu's friend, Paramjit, alias Gabbar, struck a deal with Sonu and both took Baby to a private midwife, Darshna. She helped in the baby's delivery. Sonu sent his wife home without the child saying it was to be admitted to a hospital. The girl, however, never reached home. Whenever she asked her husband, she was given excuses. This left her suspicious and she filed a complaint yesterday. When the complaint was lodged with the police by Baby, Sonu went missing. He did not return home after this. The police investigated the case and cracked it by arresting Gabbar and Darshna and discovering the agreement between the father and the couple. Sonu is still absconding. Interestingly, after the girl was recovered from Darshana and restored to Baby by the police today, the mother and daughter went missing. The police had scheduled a press conference to announce the breakthrough but Baby and the girl could not be located. The press conference had to be cancelled, said SP-HQ Harish Kumar. "May be out of fear, she has gone to her relatives. We will ensure her security," he said.
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PAU 201: No headway yet
Jalandhar, March 11 Punjab had approached the PMO to resolve the issue at the earliest as a delay in milling of this variety has been creating problems for rice millers and state government agencies. It has also been creating problem for the Agriculture Department which is to decide whether farmers should be allowed to transplant the variety during the coming paddy season or not. Sources said the Agricultural Commissioner was convinced of arguments advanced by farmers, rice millers and officials of the Agriculture and Food Supplies Departments that high yielding PAU 201 was viable for state farmers and that it should not be rejected in any case. Officials argued that rice prepared from this variety was fit for human consumption and the FCI should be directed to accept it. In absence of any decision regarding this variety by the Centre, Agriculture Department officials were facing the question that whether they should allow farmers its transplantation or not during the coming paddy season. Farmers are looking towards the department in this regard. For farmers, it is the time to procure seed for sowing nursery of this variety in the second week of May for further transplantation of it after June 15. Director, Agriculture, Balwinder Singh Sidhu said “ We are awaiting the decision of the Centre. In case it gave a nod, farmers will be happy to enhance area under the variety up to 40 per cent against last year’s figure of 20 per cent.
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Death of Infants at Rajindra Hospital Umesh Dewan/Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 11 Punjab Medical Education Minister Tikshan Sud has confirmed that orders to this effect have been issued. While both Shergill and Dr Lochan have been asked to submit their replies in three weeks, Satya has been transferred to Government Medical College, Amritsar. Notably, the ghastly incident on January 31, 2009, morning had left everyone shocked. Immediately after the incident, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had entrusted the probe into the incident to former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge KC Gupta. Recently, Gupta had submitted his report to the state government. It is learnt that Shergill, Dr Lochan and Satya have been chargesheeted mainly on the basis of the findings of the inquiry report. Dr Lochan has been asked to explain that he was working as head, Paediatrics Department, from 1999, then why didn’t he take any corrective measures to deal with the shortcomings in the department. Though the inquiry report was submitted a month back, the preliminary inquiries into the incident last year had indicated that “it was sheer negligence of the hospital staff and lack of proper equipment in the paediatric wing of the hospital that led to the mishap”. The photo-therapy unit was made by an ordinary carpenter and it did not have any thermostat or an auto-cut mechanism. Besides, the electrical wiring in hospital was three decades old.
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Manpreet faces ire of legislators
Chandigarh, March 11 In the zero hour, Makhan Singh of the Congress lashed out at Manpreet for a reply given by him yesterday in response to a query by Amarjit Singh Sahi of the BJP regarding hike in salaries and allowances of legislators. Makhan Singh took serious offence to what he attributed to Manpreet Badal with the Finance Minister denying the charge and adding “Look at the Vidhan Sabha record and if found guilty, I am willing to face any punishment.” Failing to understand the provocation a day later, Manpreet kept pleading for an opportunity to defend himself. But Congress legislators simply refused to listen and sought an unconditional apology. Brahm Mohindra and others also joined Makhan Singh. Even the Speaker’s intervention did not help. While all this was happening, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal preferred to “enjoy Manpreet’s bashing” rather than come to his rescue. Makhan Singh started by saying, “The Finance Minister’s response to a query by Sahi on hike in salaries and allowances of legislators is condemnable and is nothing short of humiliation of all members of the House.” The entire Opposition joined in and at one stage it appeared that they would walk out. Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal too demanded an apology from Manpreet saying the entire media had quoted him. To clarify his position, Manpreet claimed that he had only said that “as MLAs what we are doing is public service. It was a personal conversation with another MLA and the matter of hike in salaries and allowances should not have been raised during the zero hour.” He requested Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon to set up a committee of the House to verify the records. When Bhattal demanded that a committee of the House be set up to inquire into breach of privilege of legislators by the minister, Manpreet said: “You cannot hold me responsible for what had appeared in the media. Set up a House committee and if they found me guilty, punish me.” Manpreet said if he was not found at fault than Bhattal should tender an apology. As Congress members went into the Well of the House and raised anti-government slogans, the Speaker intervened to defuse the situation. However, the matter ended here and was not referred to the privilege committee.
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Punjabi Tribune Editor bereaved
Patiala, March 11 In their messages, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Minister for Public Relations Sewa Singh Sekhwan, adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema, media adviser Harcharan Bains and Principal Secretary to Punjab Chief Minister DS Guru expressed grief over the demise of Reikhy and prayed to God for the peace of the departed soul. Former SGPC chief Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, chairman of Patiala District Planning Committee Surjit Singh Rakhra, SAD (Badal) general secretary Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and former minister Harmail Singh Tohra have also expressed condolence over the demise of Reikhy. News Editor, Punjabi Tribune, Surinder Singh Tej and mediapersons attended the cremation and paid tributes to Reikhy in large numbers.
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State to allot liquor vends on monopoly basis
Bathinda, March 11 According to the newly carved policy, all vends of the Punjab Medium Liquor (L-14 A) and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (L-2) would be allotted through a district-wise draw system on March 19 and if required, they would hold the second draw on March 23. But the decision is apparently going to favour contractors as the successful allottees of various pockets, where the liquor vends would be accumulated in one group, who would be entitled to sell the bottles at discretionary prices as the upper limit of the sale price had been rubbed out . As per the details collected from the district level officials of the Excise and Taxation Department, of the five urban areas, excluding the Bathinda Municipal Corporation limits, liquor vends of Goniana, Bhucho and Sangat in this district would be allotted on a monopoly basis. The details stated the urban area of Goniana would have four units of PML and IMFL vends and these units had been accumulated in one group. Further, the three units of Bhucho and two units of Sangat had been accumulated in single groups. Combining all units of PML and IMFL vends in single group, it has been declared that the allotment through a draw would be made to a single applicant. Sources said: “This is not just in the case of Bathinda, the policy is applicable throughout the state.”
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Auction of vends postponed
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, March 11 According to the previously issued public notice, the Excise And Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, had announced that the first draw of lots would be held on March 19 and the second draw after regrouping of the vends was slated for March 23. The scheduled allotment of liquor vends on the sacred day had created a flutter among social activists, thinkers and the leaders of farmer unions, who had termed it as a well planned move by the government to hurt popular sentiments. The Tribune had published the news “Liquor vend auction on Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom day” on March 9, after that joint commissioner of the department HMS Rosha issued a fresh public notice, bearing number 1804-09 on the same day, which mentioned that the date of second auction had been changed to March 25 from March 23. Directing all subordinate officials throughout the state, the joint commissioner asked them to paste the fresh notice on the departmental notice boards for the information of general public. Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Bathinda, Pawan Garg confirmed the change of date, stating that he received the information today and immediately after that put it on the notice board.
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Man rescues sister ‘forced’ into prostitution by mother
Moga, March 11 In her complaint to Moga DSP (city) Balwinder Singh, the victim has demanded protection for her life. The DSP has asked the SHO of the city police station (south), Ram Singh, to inquire into the allegations and take legal action. Narrating her tale of woes, she said she was married to a labourer at the age of 15 in a nearby village. “I have two children and my husband is also working at the same brick kiln,” she said. The victim said two months ago, she had a fight with her husband over some issue and she came back to her mother’s house in Moga. “Two weeks ago, my mother asked me to stay with another woman living in this town. But that woman, along with her husband, forced me into prostitution,” she said. She alleged that the husband of that woman first sent her to a sarpanch, who sexually exploited her. She said a couple of days ago, her brother rescued her from the clutches of the woman and took her to the DSP to lodge a complaint against their mother and all others involved in abusing her. The SHO said he had sent police teams to residences of the victim’s mother and the other woman, but they managed to flee. “We are inquiring into the matter and will register a criminal case against all alleged accused after discussing it with the higher authorities,” he said. Meanwhile, the victim also revealed to the police locations of many brothels and prostitution centres running in “connivance” with some influential persons.
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PPCB initiates action against 2 units
Patiala, March 11 PPCB member secretary Dr Babu Ram said on a tip-off, board officials conducted surprise raids at certain industrial units in Amritsar and found these units “violating” the provisions of the Water Act, 1974. He further said a team of senior officials headed by senior environmental engineer DK Dua
made surprise check at these units and found that their effluent treatment plants of were not operational. Board officials said action under relevant provisions of the board rules would be taken against the erring units.
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Bus catches fire
Amritsar, March 11 People ran here and there as soon as they saw smoke emanating from the bus (PB-06-C-9933) belonging to an Akali Minister. The incident took place at 11.30 am when it was just parked. Tarlochan Singh, district fire brigade officer, said the fire broke out due to a short circuit. Two fire brigade vehicles and internal fire extinguishing systems were pressed to service which took about 15 minutes to douse the fire.
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Ammonia plants to be revamped
Bathinda, March 11 The L&T would revamp the units on turnkey basis within 36 months. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had recently given green signal for conversion of the three units of NFL at Bathinda, Nangal and Panipat into gas-based.
— TNS
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Beant Singh Case Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 11 At least two assassins returned to their routine work a day after the blast. The startling revelation was made by the Central Bureau of Investigation before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, during the hearing of appeals by a Division Bench against death and other sentences awarded to the assassins by the trial court. As the appeals came up for hearing before the Division Bench headed by Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, the CBI said at least two convicts returned to their workplace the very next day. Appearing before the Bench, CBI’s special public prosecutor SK Saxena said both Gurmeet Singh and Jagtar Singh Tara resumed their normal routine soon after. Saxena said Gurmeet Singh, working with BPL Engineering Limited, was absent from duty on August 31, 1995 - the day of the blast. But, he was present in his office on September 1 and 2. Elaborating on his role in the conspiracy, he said the belt full of explosives tied around the waist of human bomb Dilawar Singh was prepared in the Mohali room of diploma holder mechanical engineer Gurmeet Singh. RDX was also seized from his room. Tara, working as a driver, was also absent from duty from August 24, 1995, to August 31, 1995. He, too, came back on duty on September 1, 1995. Commenting on the role of the other convicts, Saxena said in the presence of defense counsel Baldev Singh, Jagtar Singh Hawara was the kingpin and the coordinator of the activities between proclaimed offenders Mahal Singh-Wadhawa Singh and the other assassins of the former chief minister. The confessional statement of co-accused Balwant Singh gives in detail the part played by Hawara, Saxena said. Referring to confessional statements of Shamsher Singh, Balwant Singh and Tara, he said it was a deep-rooted conspiracy to eliminate the former chief minister.
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