Gurdaspur/ Pathankot, August 16
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon unfurled the national flag at an impressive ceremony held at the government college ground here yesterday even as dark clouds hung like a thick canopy over the venue.

This development forced the Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth to scout for an alternative venue and arrangements had been made at the Prabodh Chander Gymnastic hall just in case things went awry at the college stadium.

Kahlon spoke a length about the sacrifices made by the Punjabi community in the country’s independence struggle.

He took the salute from the personnel of Punjab Police, Home Guards and NCC cadets. Also present on the occasion were DIG (Border Range) Ram Singh, SSP Varinder Pal Singh, ADC Pardeep Sabharwal, MLA GS Babbehali and SDM Tejinder Pal Singh Sandhu.

In neighbouring Pathankot, Local Bodies Minister Tikshan Sood hoisted the Tricolour in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner Siben C and SSP Surinder Kumar Kalia.

Independence Day celebrations also took place at various educational institutes at both Gurdaspur and Batala.

Nawanshahr: Forest, Labour, Medical Education and Research Minister, Arunesh Shakir, accompanied by DC Shruti Singh and SSP Narinder Bhargav, unfurled the Tricolour and took salute from the contingents of the Punjab Police, Home Gaurd jawans, NCC cadets, girl guides and former servicemen here at district-level Independence Day organised here at ITI Grounds on Monday.

He also honoured the freedom fighters and the distinguished personalities.

The youth from nearby Mehndipur village --- Harjinder Pal, Ashwani, Deepa and Binder, who saved a number of lives during the flashfloods at the village on Saturday, were honoured. 

Gurdaspur, August 16
Murphy’s Law states that when things get bad they tend to get worse. This in essence sums up the drug scenario among youth in villages dotting the India-Pakistan border in this district as officials admit on the sly that the situation is really turning from bad to worse. These very officials also confess that they have been reduced to helpless figures in the ongoing war against drugs.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and health authorities acknowledge that more and more dope is steadfastly finding its way into this border district following which more and more youngsters are getting addicted to these deadly substances.

Harjinder Singh, sarpanch of Chauntra village, located near the border, points out to a Punjab and Haryana High court judgement in which it has been proclaimed that every third household in this district is in the vice-like grip of drugs.

He said, “The situation is really becoming painful with statistics revealing that thousands of youth being hooked on drugs which include poppy husk, opium, psychotropic substances, cough syrups and even type writer fluid. The porous border with Pakistan is one of the major reasons why drugs infiltrate into this district with an embarrassing ease. Apart from providing lip service, the police has not been able to do much.”

Even top police officers confess that they are experiencing a torrid time in handling the drug phenomenon. SSP Varinder Pal Singh says, “We are doing our best to check the infiltration of drugs from across the border. We admit it is tough fighting this menace but we are putting our best put forward.”

Sarpanches of Dostpur and Tashan villages say that lack of employment opportunities as compared to their peers living in big towns and illiteracy caused by government teachers who rarely come to schools are two major factors in youth taking recourse to drugs.

“Lack of proper employment opportunities, peer pressure and easy availability of drugs over the counters of chemist shops has created sheer mayhem in this region. We have no proper statistics available but officials and chemists in the know inform us that every third household in the region is affected with drugs,” discloses Romesh Mahajan, project director of the Red Cross De-addiction Centre.

Mahajan admits that there has been a phenomenal 30 per cent increase of addicts at his centre this year.

Experts opine that this is symbolic of the situation in entire Majha where many NGOs are working hard to nip the dope habit in the bud but they candidly admit that they are fighting a battle which they will ultimately loose.

Gurdaspur/Chandigarh, August 16
Acting on a reference filed by the Gurdaspur District and Sessions Judge, the same which has been supported by two judicial employees, the Punjab and Haryana High court has issued contempt of court notices to 16 Gurdaspur-based lawyers for obstructing the construction of the new judicial complex and shouting slogans in front of the court of the Sessions Judge recently.

The advocates have been asked to be present in the high court on August 18. The Bench, headed by Justice S K Mittal, in the notices asked the lawyers to explain as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

The lawyers who have been issued notices were HS Lakhanpal, SS Kahlon, SS Bhagowalia, GS Bhullar, Sandeep Ohri, Baltej Singh, OS Sodhi, KK Puri, SS Saini, Kavi Raj Saini, Rakesh Kumar, JS Ahuja, Jagmohan Walia, Kamaljit Suri, RS Goraya and Bahadur Singh.

“Functioning of the court has been paralysed and it became virtually impossible to conduct the court proceedings. The act on the part of advocates is totally uncalled for and amounts to interference in the administration of justice,” reads the report sent by the Sessions Judge. The high court directed Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police to ensure that no hindrance is caused in the functioning of the district court. “If any person is found involved in such activities, he/she should be dealt with in accordance with the law. It will be the responsibility of these two officers to ensure that proper functioning of the courts at Gurdaspur is not disturbed by any person. Both the officers are directed to submit a report.”

Meanwhile, a perusal of the arbitration award given by the Sessions Judge, who acted as an arbitrator between the warring lawyers and district administration, clearly shows that the advocates are on a weak wicket.

The lawyers had pleaded that an agreement was signed on January 2, 2003, between the Gurdaspur District Bar Association (GDBA) and the then Deputy Commissioner wherein land was allotted to the lawyers for construction of chambers. The advocates have been insisting that the DC threatened to demolish the chambers in violation of the terms of the agreement following which the Sessions judge stepped in as an arbitrator.

The Sessions Judge has affirmed that “It seems only an agreement was executed by both the parties (the GDBA and the DC) for allotment of land and no further steps were taken to complete the agreement. The land allotted was not identified, no site plan was prepared and no formal order of allotment of land was ever passed.”

Later an agreement was signed by the GDBA and the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Building Committee in which it was decided to construct the new judicial complex at the existing site. To this the Sessions Judge has replied in his award, “Thus the bar members knew from the very beginning that they have to remove the super structures (illegal chambers) if the new court complex is to be constructed at the existing site and, rather, they had agreed to remove the super structures.”

Amritsar, August 16
Two groups of Congress supporters allegedly clashed during the Independence Day function held at Batala Road here on Monday. Three persons were reportedly injured during the clash. They were admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. No case has been registered so far. According to the police only one person was injured in the incident.

Sunil Datti, former Mayor, however, claimed that no Congress activists were involved in the incident. He said his supporters were only raising slogans in his favour. He said an altercation took place between two groups of people who were present for the Independence Day celebrations.

Parvesh Chopra, in-charge Mohkampura police chowki said the two opposing groups clashed at the function. He said only one person identified as Jaspal Singh was injured who was admitted to the hospital.

He said he had not received any compliant or medical report in this regard.

Amritsar, August 16
Two persons were killed when a rashly driven car hit their motorcycle at Beas River Bridge here on Monday evening.

According to a complaint lodged by Tarun Kumar, a resident of Mathura road, Sodal Nagar, Jalandhar, his father Darshan Lal and his friend Joginder Marwaha had gone to Beas River to perform some rituals.

The Assent car bore the number DL-4CA-8579 and was driven by Taranjit Singh of Ram Parak, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi.

The victims died on the spot and the accused is absconding. A case under Section 304-A, 279 and 427 IPC has been registered against Taranjit Singh.

In another incident, body of Kulwant Singh of Nangali Colony, Loharka Road at a roadside near Fatehgarh Churian bypass here. Rajwinder Kaur, in-charge Fatehgarh Churian bypass police chowki said the victim had been run over by an unidentified vehicle.

The deceased was identified as Kulwant Singh of Nangali and a case under Section 304-A, 427 of IPC has been registered.

Tarn Taran: Two persons were killed on the spot in an accident on the National Highway 15 near Naushehra Pannuan village 18 km from here on Monday.

The deceased identified as Kashmir Singh (54) and Balwinder Singh (40), both residents of Brahmpura village, were run over by a rashly driven truck. The driver of the truck fled from the spot. The accused has been booked under section 304, 279, 427 of the IPC.The deceased were daily wagers and were on their way to Nandpur village for work at the time of the accident.

A post-mortem examination was conducted at the local Civil Hospital. 

Amritsar, August 16
Two persons have been booked for the alleged murder of a man over a minor issue. No arrests have been made so far.

A case under Section 302, 349 IPC has been registered at Beas police station on the basis of the complaint of Navneet Kaur, a relative of the deceased her brother-in-law Sahib Singh.

The complainant said she along with her brother-in-law Sahib Singh, his wife and brother were going to Baba Bakala for paying obeisance on the occasion of Rakhar Punia. She said that two unidentified Nihang Sikhs, carrying a sword (Khanda) and a pointed weapon were allegedly disrupting traffic and were hitting motorcycles and other vehicles with wooden sticks.

Jalandhar, August 16
Protesting against the move of the state government to provide better grades to teachers in the non-B.Ed cadres and delayed promotions to teachers and principals belonging to the master cadre, the Master Cadre Union Punjab (MCUP) held a protest march today. They also blocked traffic at BMC Chowk here for nearly an hour.

They also held a rally at at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall. The protest march was taken through various parts of the city before holding a demonstration at the DC complex.

The teachers demanded better grades than those allegedly being given to the less qualified, non-B.Ed teachers as well as timely promotions for themselves.

As many as 5,000 teachers of master cadre from all over the state took part in the rally.

Holding a demonstration outside the DC complex in favour of their demands, they threatened to go on a hunger strike if their demands were not met. They declared that a decision would be taken in this regard at their next state body meeting on August 21.

MCUP president Gurpreet Singh Riar, general secretary Gurinderjit Singh, along with district presidents and general secretaries from across the state were present on the occasion.