Patiala, April 9
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur has said that she has issued an advisory to the Indian Embassy and consulates in the US to ensure that the visa applications of the Indian diaspora are cleared quickly.

Preneet, who was in Patiala to attend different programmes, said, “It has come to my notice that NRIs residing in San Francisco, Chicago and New York are facing problems in getting visas to visit India. Hence, an advisory has been issued to the Indian Embassy and consulates in the US to make sure that visa cases are cleared on priority.”

Elaborating on the matter, Preneet said some of the consulates and the Indian Embassy had outsourced the work of issuance of the visa. “It has been brought to my knowledge that the visa applications of NRIs, who have a clean track record, are stuck up in the embassy and consulates. Hence, instructions have been issued to pull up the outsourcing staff, so that the Indian diaspora in the US doesn’t have to face a problem in procuring visas.”

Expressing her views on the crucial issue of corruption, also taken up by social activist Anna Hazare, Preneet said the Union Government was not against Hazare and already an announcement had been made to set up a joint committee for drafting an effective Lokpal Bill. “It is crystal clear that the UPA government will not tolerate corruption,” she asserted. Preneet also said that the Punjab Congress was united and all set to defeat the SAD-BJP combine in the next Assembly elections in the state, due to be held in February next year.

Amritsar, April 9
People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Badal today said his party would not hold talks to forge an alliance in the state with any political outfit, including the SAD (Longowal), before completion of their membership drive and internal party elections in June.

Inaugurating party office at Ranjit Avenue here, Manpreet said: “We need 90 days as this is the period in which we will get to know our strengths and weaknesses. We will hold our membership drive in April and May and then there will be internal party elections in June. The exercise will give us a fair idea as to how our party is placed in the state and only after that we will be in a position to hold talks with other like-minded groups.”

Manpreet ruled out the possibility of the PPP contesting SGPC elections. “I am neither a religious leader nor aspire to be one. Ours is a secular party,” he averred. On Khalsa College row, he said the institution should not be converted into a private university. “It is a heritage college and it should not be tampered with,” he added.

On his party not holding Baisakhi conference at Talwandi Sabo, he said he was not in favour of “mela politics”. He said the party members had taken a conscious decision of not holding a conference in any of the fairs as it causes inconvenience to those who participate in these events with immense faith. “We held successful conferences at Maghi Mela in Muktsar and Khatkar Kalan on March 27 so nobody can say that we are keeping away from such events as we cannot draw crowds,” he added.

Manpreet said they are now opening their party offices at each district headquarters. “We will have our offices in all districts within 15 days.”

Dubbed himself as the acting president of the PPP, Manpreet said the party would hold internal party polls in June in which all the office bearers, including party president, will be elected. He claimed that his party has enrolled two lakh members in the last four days alone.

Ludhiana, April 9
A TV channel's footage showing a sting operation relating to the alleged city centre scam was not admissible in the eyes of law for want of its authenticity and corroboration with other evidence.

Putting a question mark on the credibility of the footage, this was stated by the defence lawyer, representing one of the accused, SAH Naqvi, marketing manager of Today Homes Company, while opposing framing of charges against his client.

Naqvi was involved in this case by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on the accusation of demanding money in black while striking deal with a customer on behalf of his company.

The defence lawyer stated that the Vigilance Bureau did not take into possession of the camera with the help of which the alleged sting operation was carried out, nor the original CD was taken into possession.

It was claimed that the statement of the reporter or cameraman, who allegedly recorded the so-called converstaion, was not on record.

Morevoer, nothing on the record to suggest that the voice was of Naqvi. No voice sample was taken to compare his voice by the VB during investigation.

There was no report of the CFSL that the CD was not tampered with nor there was any statement that the CD was not dubbed or tampered with, stated the defence lawyer, while concluding his arguments.

Thereafter, the court of Sessions Judge, SP Bangarh, adjourned the case for hearing arguments against framing charges by the other defence lawyer till May 7.

PPCC president Amarinder Singh's personal presence was exempted by the court for today. Amarinder’s lawyer Trilok Singh Sood had moved an application seeking exemption on the plea that his client was to attend an urgent meeting of the governing body of Yadwindra Public School Trust at Patiala.

An ex-minister Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, Raninder Singh, Harpreet Sandhu, former AAG, were present during the court hearing.

Jalandhar, April 9
Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has urged Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to announce Rs 100 per quintal as bonus on wheat which is to be procured for the central pool.

“I had a meeting with Pawar in Delhi. I told him clearly that the payment of Rs 50 per quintal as bonus on wheat would not be enough. Keeping in view various factors, farmers should be given Rs 100 per quintal as bonus in addition to the minimum support price”, Bhattal said yesterday.

Bhattal said Pawar had given an assurance that the Centre would take a decision in this regard soon. “As Assembly elections are under way in some states, the Centre may have to seek the permission of the Election Commission of India before announcing the bonus. But I am hopeful that the commission will give the permission because the elections are being held mostly in non-wheat growing states”, said Bhattal.

She said that because of efforts made by her, the Centre had announced a Rs 1,000 crore project to tame the Ghaggar river, which had been creating problems for people in Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa and other areas almost every monsoon . She said the states concerned would have to make only a minor contribution in the project. Bhattal said there was now hope that the issues related to the Ghaggar would be resolved.

Rajpura, April 9
Stringent measures are being taken with the help of different state governments in the country to stop the ever-rising sale of illegal drugs. The new drug policy will soon check the misuse of drugs across the country.

The Drug Controller-General of India, Dr Surinder Singh, stated this today at Swift School of Pharmacy.

He said the new schedule under the Drugs And Cosmetics Act called schedule HX would soon curb the menace. Schedule H would denote drugs which would be given only on prescription and Schedule X would denote those drugs, which would have to be kept with a label of warning to keep these away from the reach of outsiders.

The records pertaining to the sale of habit-forming drugs and their sale in bulk would be checked. Also it would be made mandatory for chemists to maintain records pertaining to the sale of drugs for at least one year. The new proposal would make it necessary that drugs would be sold against prescription and many of them would be made available only in the hospitals and not for open sale.

Nearly 600 more drug inspectors would also be recruited soon to check drug abuse, said the Drug Controller-General of India.

Chandigarh, April 9
The voice against corruption raised by Manpreet Singh Badal in Punjab and brought into national focus by Gandhian Anna Hazare has set the pace for corruption to become a major agenda in Punjab’s politics. Punjab is due to go to polls in less than a year.

Cutting across party lines, every politician and political party has unanimously supported the Jan Lok Pal Bill. The euphoria of a nationalistic spirit that originated from India’s victory in the World Cup Cricket continues in the streets of most Punjab towns.

Reports from many parts of the state today said that the people were euphoric after hearing that the government had acceded to the demands of Hazare and that he had ended his 98-hour-old fast.

Reports from small towns and cities across the 20 districts of the state suggested that the people who were holding demonstrations and protests to support Hazare’s cause, came out waiving the tricolour and shouting slogans like ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Inquilab Zindabad’.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was one of the first few to lend support to the Bill. He was followed by the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who demanded that the Congress-led UPA government should not oppose the Anti-Corruption Bill.

Congress leaders like Sukhpal Singh Khaira also issued statements to support the Bill even before the Prime Minister and the UPA Government agreed to accept it. Environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal and Sant Daya Singh, who have been raising their voice against corruption in the official machinery, have also extended their support to the Bill.

Amritsar, April 9
The SGPC has launched a beautification drive in the Golden Temple complex under which huge flower pots with different varieties of plants will be placed around the parkarma as well as on the roof of the adjoining verandah.

The beautification work has been assigned to Baba Amrik Singh Kar Sewawale. Members of the SGPC’s Dharam Parchar Committee and various dignitaries launched the drive by planting saplings in flower pots after performing ardas at the sanctum sanctorum.

Earlier, in 2006, the SGPC had placed around 3,000 plants of 51 varieties, most of which find mention in the Gurbani, in the parkarma. However, they were removed in view of repair work on parkarma rooms in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Dharam Parchar Committee at a meeting held here yesterday decided to set up a fund for extending financial aid to cancer patients. The SGPC will contribute Rs 11 lakh to the fund.It was also decided to provide Rs 20,000 each to 50 families of the Banjara community to help them build their houses.

Kharar, April 9
The City Centre Housing project, along the NH-21 stretch of the Kharar-Chandigarh road, is coming up without seeking permission from the national highway authorities as well as the Forest Department. Spread over an area of eight acres, Sky City Builders and Promoters Private Limited are coming up with the project. As per Clause 28 and 29 of the National Highway Act, anyone seeking passage from the national highway should apply for permission from the department.

Confirming the incident, the national highway authorities have stated that the aforesaid project developers had not sought any such permission from them. Chief engineering RP Singh said he would visit the spot and look into the matter.

Department officials further stated that had written to the executive officer, municipal council (Kharar) stating that maps of the colony should not be passed without getting a no-objection certificate from the highway authorities. The executive officer, Sukhwinder Singh, said the coloniser had submitted a commercial plan that was yet to be passed.

Apart from the national highway authorities, the colonisers had also not sought permission from the Forest Department for taking the access route from forest strip. Instead, landscaping has been initiated on the sides of the road.

Divisional Forest Officer (Ropar) Vishal Chauhan said he had already directed the Range Officer (Kharar) to take action against the coloniser for not seeking permission from the department.

Meanwhile, developer of project Sudarshan Verma said the land belonged to the City Centre and hence it need not take any permission. “We are doing the landscaping just to provide greenery to our area,” he said.

Project director of Sky City Builders and Promoters Private Limited, New Delhi, Harish Popli claimed: “Neither the national highway nor the Forest Department has any control over our land. We do not need to seek any permission. In fact, we had donated a portion of our land during the widening of this road stretch.”

Rajpura, April 9
Farmers in Punjab eager to sell off their wheat crop are forced to go to nearby grain markets of Haryana in view of the strike called by the inspectors of various procurement agencies across the state.

Besides, the farmers also expect better price by private traders of Haryana. Most of the farmers from Rajpura are going to Ambala, which is about 40 km from Rajpura.

“Fearing that the inclement weather would persist, many farmers have sold off their produce to private traders in Ambala at Rs 10-20 more than the MSP of Rs 1,120. Many flour mills are eager to purchase maximum fresh arrival of wheat there,” said Preetam Singh of Rajpura.

Harvinder Singh Riar, market committee secretary of the Rajpura grain market, admitted to slow procurement this season and said he had called up a meeting of the inspectors of the procurement agencies. “The matter is likely to be resolved by tomorrow and procurement will surely pick up in next couple of days or so,” he said.

Patiala, April 9
Patiala could become the first district in Punjab to have community police suwidha centres (CPSC). Five such centres are almost complete at the subdivisional level. The police is awaiting nod from the Deputy Chief Minister to inaugurate the same.

According to the police officials, the centres would help in integrating community policing and save time of the common man as he would no longer need to go to police stations for minor issues. In Patiala district, five such centres have been constructed at Rajpura, Patiala, Nabha, Samana and Patran.

According to SP (Operations) SS Boparai, a sum of Rs 10 lakh has been spent on each centre that would have a minimum of three computers and would be headed by an inspector-level official. “After these centres start operating, the common man does not need to go to the police stations or to the district headquarters. Instead he would have to submit an application in the nearest suwidha centre nearest and get all details,” he added.

IG (Patiala) Paramjit Gill said many such centres would come up in various districts of the state making police-public interaction much easier. Boparai further said people would get details like FIR copies, DDR copies, passport forms, police verification and other details from these centres. “Trained staff would be appointed to serve people through a single window with a complete corporate look,” he stated.

Chandigarh, April 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday gave the State of Punjab time till May 20 to compile and place before the Full Bench the report on the controversial “Bhav Sagar Samunder Amarbani Granth” penned down by Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara.

As the case came up for hearing before the three-judge Bench of Justice M.M. Kumar, Justice MMS Bedi and Justice Jitendra Chauhan, the state of Punjab said one of the members of a committee constituted to look into the matter had submitted his report.

In fact, only Darshan Singh of Ram Darbar in Chandigarh had submitted the report to the committee chairman.

Seeking time till May 15, the state said the other members were in the process of completing their reports.

Giving the state time till May 20, the Bench asked the state to compile the reports and place it before the Court.

The five-member committee comprises Professor Balwant Singh Dhillon of Amritsar GND varsity Amritsar, Jodh Singh of Patiala Punjabi university, Naresh Saini, Thakur Das Ranjan of Ludhiana and Darshan Singh of Ram Darbar area in Chandigarh.

The committee was to carry out a thorough study of the controversial ‘granth’ and submit report by March 31.

The directions were issued as the state earlier could not give a definite answer about the credentials of those who had dubbed the manuscript as objectionable.