|
|
|
|
SC decides in Capt’s favour
Withdrawal of ‘false’ cases against Congmen demanded
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Govt running state as per its whims, say Capt’s supporters
CM, Speaker should resign on moral grounds: Mofar
sarv shiksha abhiyan
Int’l Seed Day
Platforms at Bathinda rly station need renovation
Census duty in summer heat, teachers look for escape route
Dairy owners mint profit with spurious milk sale
3,800 MT wheat awaits procurement in Moga
Hiccups over, Adarsh school to open on May 15
Admn shows the door to contractors for slow lifting
Three held for betting on IPL match
UAE court verdict
Khalsa College polls
Three die in mishaps
Cops begin divergent action on single complaint
Solo act traces socio-cultural change
|
|
SC decides in Capt’s favour
Moga, April 26 The senior Congress leader was expelled from the Assembly on September 10, 2008 for allegedly favouring a private party in granting a plot of prime land in Amritsar during his days in power (2002-07). The expulsion came after an assembly committee, dominated by the ruling Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recommended action against Amarinder Singh after holding him guilty of involvement in the land scam. Amarinder’s Patiala assembly seat was declared vacant and the Election Commission was to be approached to hold a by-election there. The election was stayed by the court. Captain Singh in a press release e-mailed to The Tribune through his personal security officer and friend Major Karan Sekhon (retd) has stated, “I have always had the highest regard for our judiciary, which is the one institution that has consistently stood against the acts of highhandedness on the part of brute majority governments, which violate the constitution and attempt to bend the law to suit their political convenience.” The former CM who is in Dubai these days further stated, “The Badal government, in the hope of stifling dissent, and thereby insulating itself from protracted criticism in the legislative assembly contrived to get me expelled by its brute majority. By doing so, it violated the constitution having no powers to do so.” He said this lawlessness at the hands of Chief Minister Badal and the blatant act of political vendetta, which this act indicated, has been put right by the Supreme Court. It should be a lesson to Badal that we live in a country which has a constitution and an established law to protect an individual from those professing the law of jungle,” he added. Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders Dr Malti Thapar and Vijay Sathi, both general secretaries of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) and Joginder Pal Jain Congress MLA from Moga, in separate statements issued here, have demanded resignation from the CM Parkash Singh Badal and speaker of the legislative assembly Nirmal Singh Kahlon on moral grounds after having been “exposed for the unconstitutional act of removing an elected representative by undemocratic means.” “They should resign from their respective posts to re-establish the faith of common masses in democracy,” they said. On the other hand, it is learnt that the Captain has decided to hold a public rally at Patiala in the next few days on his return from abroad.
|
|
|
Withdrawal of ‘false’ cases against Congmen demanded
Abohar, April 26 Similar statements were received here from legislator Sunil Jakhar, former ministers and PPCC vice-presidents Bal Mukand Sharma and Sajjan Kumar Jakhar and Harmohinder Singh Grover, state convener of the 125th anniversary celebrations committee of the Congress Sewa Dal. False cases registered against hundreds of Congress workers across the state after formation of the present government should be withdrawn now, they demanded. —
OC |
|
|
Govt running state as per its whims, say Capt’s supporters
Ferozepur, April 26 He said the apex court also made it clear that no ruling party could run the affairs of the state at its whims. The law of the land will have to be implemented and followed in all aspects, he added. Giri Raj Rajora, president, Malwa Rural Development Council, Punjab, said the decision to set aside expulsion of Capt Amarinder Singh from Vidhan Sabha was victory of the Indian He added that those who had engineered the expulsion of Capt from the Vidhan Sabha must be taken to task for their ‘misdeeds.’ |
|
|
CM, Speaker should resign on moral grounds: Mofar
Bathinda, April 26 In a press note issued by district press secretary of the Congress Rupinder Singh Bindra here, it was stated that Congress MLAs Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Makhan Singh and district president of Congress (Rural) Narinder Singh Bhuleria termed the apex court’s decision as historic. A press note released by district secretary of the party Mohinder Singh Bhola, secretaries of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Tehal Singh Sandhu and Bhupinder Singh Gora said with the revival of Amarinder’s membership as member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, a wave of happiness had run not only in the party but also citizens of the entire country, who believed in democratic values. Congress workers and leaders celebrated the decision in Bathinda by distributing “ladoos” and bursting crackers. —
TNS |
|
|
sarv shiksha abhiyan
Bathinda, April 26 Details of the budgetary allocations under the SSA for the current financial year indicate that many districts in the Malwa region, which is considered as the backwaters of Punjab, have not been given due weightage. Mansa is the only district of Punjab where, with 52 per cent literacy, all its five blocks have been declared educationally backward, against the total number of 21 blocks falling in the category in the entire state. Due to lack of infrastructure, the district was facing hurdles in enrolling to school all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. A sum of Rs 5.27 crore out of the total allocation for the district would be spent on construction of classrooms and buildings. The allocation for the district also covers various other components of the SSA, including civil works, learning enhancements, alternate innovative education centres, special classes and inclusive education of disabled children. The Bathinda district where too the education profile is not very bright, the allocation is Rs 19.29 crore. Barnala has the lowest allocation of Rs 7.03 crore while Ferozepur got the lion’s share of Rs 38.06 crore. The allocation for other districts of Malwa includes Faridkot Rs 11.38 crore, Moga Rs 19.05 crore, Muktsar Rs 16.09 crore and Sangrur Rs 21.39 crore. The highest amount of Rs 145 crore has been earmarked for civil works followed by Rs 97.26 crore for salary of teachers under the SSA scheme. Rs 34.7 crore has been earmarked for inclusive education of disabled children and Rs 25.59 crore for free textbooks for students. |
|
Int’l Seed Day
Bathinda, April 26 On the occasion of the International Seed Day today, executive director of KVM Umendra Dutt demanded a full and detailed enquiry, led by biodiversity and millet-based farmers, into the current funding sources of public sector agriculture universities and research centres. He demanded a complete moratorium on genetically engineered (GE) crops till time a detailed independent scientific enquiry is ordered on the need for these crops. Pending laws like the Seed Bill and the NBRA Bill should not be introduced in the Parliament till such time these are discussed and explained to the farming community that is likely to be most affected by it, Dutt added. —
TNS |
|
Platforms at Bathinda rly station need renovation
Bathinda, April 26 As if the inconvenience passengers face till they board the trains at the station – due to the absence of direct link to platforms - is not enough, another set of ordeal greets them on the platforms which is being considered as the ‘side-effect of going hi-tech’ by the railway. During the commissioning of the route relay interlocking (RRI) system in March, washable aprons were made on platform number 2 and 3, trolleys were used for bringing materials and other related works that caused damage to the surface of platforms 1 to 4. Potholes have come up on platforms and tiles were also got removed making walking difficult for passengers. Senior citizens and women have been facing great convenience while boarding the trains, particularly during the rush hours. Railway sources said that a proposal regarding renovation of the platforms damaged during the commissioning of RRI had been sent to the division. Sources, however, said that passengers might have to wait for some time, even months, to get rid of the problem. Though the department concerned here has sent a proposal for renovation of the platforms, getting sanction for the same, giving tender to contractor and other related works generally take time, sources added. This may be the problem that had surfaced recently, but the passengers using platforms number 1 to 4, have been facing inconvenience due to the lack of a basic facility on the platforms for many years. There is no toilet on platform no. 1 to 4 at Bathinda station even though superfast trains like Punjab Mail stops on one of these platforms. Several times, passengers, mostly women, have been found undergoing ordeal on these platforms. There is only one lavatory, on platform no 5, for the around 15,000 passengers who use the station daily and over 60 trains touches the station everyday. There are two more lavatories on the railway premises – one at the main gate while other behind train ticket counter. Not just on platforms, passengers face problems also in the parking zone where although places have been reserved for four-wheelers, two-wheelers and even auto-rickshaws and rickshaw are found parked. Hardly anyone cares about the rules. All this has been a regular feature here causing traffic snarls several times. |
|
Census duty in summer heat, teachers look for escape route
Bathinda, April 26 It is learnt that several employees are wielding political pressure on census officials for detachment. However, the officials are learnt to have resisted the pressure so far, but have obliged those backed by senior leaders of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance or had genuine reasons for exemption. Teachers in particular were annoyed that about 90 per cent enumerators were appointed from the education department while the rest were from nearly 70 other departments of the government. Moreover, their grouse was that they have been asked to perform the census duty only after teaching hours. An organisation of teachers has threatened to launch protests throughout the state in case the government went ahead with deputing teachers on other duties thereby resulting in a setback to the study of students. It is not that the teachers were being asked to perform the census duty free of cost. Each employee appointed as enumerator would be given an additional allowance of Rs 5,500 for compiling the population figures whereas the supervisors will be paid Rs 6,500 each. Each enumerator has been assigned the job of visiting about 120 households in the locality assigned to them for compilation of population figures, said Ravi Bhagat, commissioner of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC), who is among the four other commissioners of municipal corporations (MCs) of the state who have been appointed as principal census official of their respective areas. The other MCs are at Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. During a visit to the office of BMC this morning, several teachers were found trying to get detachment from census duty on one pretext or the other. An official of the BMC said that of the 400 odd employees appointed as enumerators, about 100 were seeking detachment. Bathinda DC Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said applications for being exempted from census duty were pouring in, “but we have deployed the required strength of about 2,000 enumerators in the district. Out of this, about 300 are in the reserve pool.” The government has issued instructions that handicapped, pregnant women officials, genuine medical cases and various other such categories would be exempted from the census duty. Faced with political pressure for detachments, the authorities in Abohar were asking the applicants to first bring their replacement. Five employees of cooperative sugar mill at Fazilka have reportedly sought exemption on a plea that they were Hindi speaking and non-conversant with Punjabi
language. Similar reports of employees reluctantly accepting the duty have been received from Ferozepur, Mansa, Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga, Barnala and other districts. |
||
|
Dairy owners mint profit with spurious milk sale
Bathinda, April 26 On the one hand, the price of milk is skyrocketing while on the other, its taste is changing (to sour or slightly bitter). The milkmen swear by the purity of the milk but it mostly leaves the customers dissatisfied. But they do not have much of an option as instances have proved that the packed variety of milk too does not guarantee purity of its contents. A discussion with the dairy owners as well as the milkmen revealed that urea, refined oil, detergents, glucose, dry milk powder and other chemicals, which look like milk, are being used these days to meet the gap between the demand and supply. Ironically, the health authorities have not been uncovered this summer a unit producing spurious or adulterated milk. The details procured from the district office of the health department state that the team of food inspectors collected as many as 23 samples of milk in the past three months but their test report is awaited. Health officials say the lab reports take about six weeks, which is more than enough for unscrupulous elements, to even replace the samples or get the report altered. Health department sources disclosed that a couple of months ago, a team from the health and food departments had collected a sample of packed milk from a unit located in Kotkapura. The lab report termed the milk as below standard. Still, the officials failed to check its sale. "We have limited powers. We collect samples and send it to a laboratory for testing. Once the milk fails the test, we file a case in the court after following mandatory provisions. Final verdict comes after a long time," said District Health Officer (DHO) Dharam Pal Singh Sekhon. "Before the report is received, the spurious/adulterated milk gets sold in the market," the DHO's colleagues added. However, the DHO maintained that following strict guidelines from the higher authorities they were going to launch an operation on a large scale, in which they would collect samples not only from the motorcyclists supplying milk in and around the city, but would also visit dairies.
|
||
|
3,800 MT wheat awaits procurement in Moga
Moga, April 26 It has initiated the process to recover the losses either in cash or kind, said DK Jain, district manager of the Central food agency. Ranveer Singh, district manager of the agro-corporation, said proper fumigation and spray could not be done in time due to which a portion of the wheat stock was damaged rendering it unfit for human consumption. He said payment of retirement financial benefits of the inspector responsible for the maintenance of the food stock has been stopped . Adding that the whole stock of 3,800 metric tonnes was not damaged as projected by the FCI authorities, Ranveer Singh said only the bags lying on the sides, top and bottom rows were damaged and the corporation would check it soon after the current procurement process was over. Meanwhile, a senior FCI official at Chandigarh said improper storage was the main reason for the crop damage. The corporation is now looking to dispose off the damaged wheat through auction to the cattle feed or fertiliser firms. Also, it is learnt that as much as 23-lakh tonnes of wheat was kept in open during the monsoon season last year. This had also added to the woes of the procurement agencies. Overall, Punjab has unsettled claims of more than Rs 500 crore pending with the FCI due to quality issues. The FCI has refused to lift the damaged wheat that has to a great extent led to the space crunch for storage of the current season’s wheat crop. |
||
|
Hiccups over, Adarsh school to open on May 15
Bukan Khan (Ferozepur), April 26 This was disclosed by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kamal Kishore Yadav, who along with members of a team sent by the director general, schools, Punjab, visited it today. Despite the tall claims made by the state government to take better education facilities in rural areas, the education in the local Adarsh school could not be started for the past two years due to various reasons. Information gathered by TNS revealed that lack of co-ordination among different departments of the state government had led to a situation where not a single student could be admitted to the local Adarsh school despite the fact that the last date of admissions into various classes fixed by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) had expired. Yadav said the department had moved applications to get electricity and water connection for the school. The process of recruitment of teachers and principal had been over and they would be stationed here within 15 days. Harbans Singh, district education officer (secondary), Ferozepur, said as the building was constructed and completed by the Panchayati Raj department of Punjab and same was not handed over to the education department, so the education department could not take steps to admit students for the academic session which had started in the current month of April 2010. He said admission of students must have been done during the previous academic session also. “So far 175 students have got enrolled themselves to get admission in XI and XII classes, if it started functioning from the current academic session,” he added. |
||
|
Admn shows the door to contractors for slow lifting
Ferozepur, April 26 Taking a serious note of the situation, Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav has cancelled the contracts of about seven contractors, who were given the job of lifting and transportation of wheat from the grain markets and purchase
centres to their respective storage points and were not executing their job well. “As the wheat arrival period squeezed this season, lifting could not match the arrival in certain pockets. The entire stock of wheat would be lifted and transported to storage points within a week,” he said. He said that out of 10.18 lakh MT wheat, which had arrived in this district, about 10.16 lakh MT wheat had been procured. Now, the average daily arrival of wheat had come down to 15,000 MT. More than seven lakh MT of wheat had been lifted and transported and almost payment of the same had been made to commission agents concerned. |
||
|
Three held for betting on IPL match
Hanumangarh/Abohar, April 26 As per details, the police arrested Yoginder and Brij Lal. Jagdish Jat was nabbed by the police during another raid for similar offence in Churu district. The police have also arrested Ayub Khan under the Arms Act upon recovering .12 bore illicit pistol in Bichhwal area, sources added. — OC |
||
|
UAE court verdict
Ferozepur, April 26 Talking to TNS on phone, Rana, Congress MLA from Guru Has Sahai said he had met Dharampal, a youth from village Jhoke Thealsinghwala of this district, who along with 16 others were lodged in Sharjha jail after sentenced to death by the UAE court in connection with the murder of Pakistan national. He said he had also been trying to build up local pressure on the UAE authorities to get the death sentence of all the 17 Indian legally revoked. He added that the way Indian government was handling this case, their release from Sharjha jail could not be ruled out at appropriate time. |
||
|
Khalsa College polls
Sriganganagar/Abohar, April 26 He has been holding this office for the last 17 years. His current term of office would be for three years. The group led by Kashmir Singh Mangat who had this time thrown a tough challenge to Kang did not attend the meeting. Polling was held at six booths in Sriganganagar on Sunday. SDM Narinder Singh had been deployed as duty magistrate by the district administration as tension had brewed up over rejection of some nomination papers on the ground that the applicants being trimmers were not eligible to contest the election. The returning official Jitender Singh announced the results on Sunday. He said 835 out of 1,084 voters had exercised their franchise. —
OC |
||
|
Three die in mishaps
Abohar, April 26 Meanwhile, reports received from the neighbouring Hanumangarh area said that a resident of village Amarsar, Teju Nayak, died after consuming insecticide at his
residence. In yet another mishap, an unidentified beggar was found dead inside the distantly located room near the inter-state check-post of village Ratanpura. He had taken shelter there for the past 15 days, the locals said. —
OC |
||
|
Cops begin divergent action on single complaint
Moga, April 26 As per the documents available with The Tribune, one Bikkar Singh Sandhu, a resident of this town gave a written complaint to Ashok Bath the then SSP of Moga that her daughter Rajvir Kaur was harassed by her husband Harmandip Singh, both living in Canada, for dowry. The former SSP handed over the inquiry to Gurmeet Singh the then DSP (D) who ‘cleverly’ conducted two parallel inquiries and recommended two separate actions having same diary number. Justice Sabina while taking up the case took a serious view of this act days back and issued a notice of motion to the state government seeking reply on coming July 19. The court has also stayed the proceedings of the trial court. |
||
|
Solo act traces socio-cultural change
Abohar, April 26 The play had earlier been staged at Chandigarh and metro cities of Punjab and Haryana. It was staged last night during the VIII founder day of the Lok Kala Kendra here. Patron Rajinder Singh Jakhar and president Dr Iqbal Singh Godara welcomed the gathering. Sole actor Gaurav effectively brought the issues of social concern in a scintillating but soul searching solo act experimental drama spectacle. Sculpted and directed by acclaimed playwright thespian Prof Pali Bhupinder, Moga-based playwright and director, who came to limelight at the age of 19 when he made his maiden play ‘Iss chowk ton shehar disda hai’ the play virtually traced the perpetual change in the socio-cultural and educational structure and ideologies, while debating the inability of masses to rise to the subsequent challenges. “Theatre has to be more vibrant, educative and innovative for its survival. Like many of the visual and performing arts, theatre cannot afford to compromise on its principles. “The practitioners of theatre would have to review the norms of culture and aesthetics to relate theatre to the masses for its encouragement and nourishment,” said Prof Pali Bhupinder Singh. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh while reacting to the order of restoration of his membership to the present legislative assembly of the state.
Bathinda, April 26
Moga, April 26
Prof Gaurav Vij staged ‘Pyasa Kaan-The Naked Truth’ in the auditorium of his home institution DAV College here last night. Principal Dr BB Sharma was the chief guest. NCC commanding officer Colonel Dilbagh Singh praised his act.
The play had earlier been staged at Chandigarh and metro cities of Punjab and
Haryana. It was staged last night during the VIII founder day of the Lok Kala Kendra here. Patron Rajinder Singh Jakhar and president Dr Iqbal Singh Godara welcomed the gathering.
