|
|
|
|
|
Cong 'chargesheet' on govt failures in Nov
Last Assembly Session Before Poll Begins Today |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Skewed gender ratio dips further in Fazilka, Abohar subdivisions
Bumpy ride to Golden Temple puts pilgrims’ faith to test
Govt announces pre-Diwali bonanza for clerks, typists
British MP to take up Bhullar issue with UN panel
Villagers call on Seechewal, want check on pollution in Tonsa
Rickshaw-puller takes to aloe vera farming, earns lakhs a month through
Govt is losing control over BBMB: MLA
BJP MLA among 9 named in court complaint
Vienna flight brings 195 passengers to Amritsar
Jaspal Bhatti chosen EC ‘Brand Icon’
Electroplating units fall in line after PPCB raids
Ration depots in Punjab come under govt scanner
Punjab jails remain without jammers
Lalit Bhatia trained police chiefs
of Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi
Rally held to make poor aware of welfare programmes
|
Cong 'chargesheet' on govt failures in Nov
Jalandhar, October 2 Charak, who was in the city to attend a function at the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, said party ticket would be allotted strictly on merit. Denying there was any dissidence or factionalism in the party's state unit, he said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee's (PPCC) tough posture towards indiscipline seemed to have worked. "No indiscipline will be tolerated in future too…. The Congress is a party with a liberal outlook and every worker has the right to aspire for a ticket, though the list of candidates will be finalised by the party high command. Once candidates are announced and ticket allocated, the workers cease to have this liberty and right. The Congress workers have the peculiar characteristic that after the distribution of ticket, they start working for the finalised candidate unitedly." Taking on the ruling regime, Charak said the Congress would present a detailed "chargesheet" regarding the misdeeds of the SAD-BJP government by next month. He was accompanied by senior Congress leaders of the Doaba region, including Amarjit Samra, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Chaudhary Santokh Singh and hotelier-turned-politician Gautam Kapoor. Also, he said it was the Congress that had passed the Lok Pal Bill in 1995 to curb corruption. On why the Congress had not so far initiated its poll campaign even as the SAD-BJP coalition had sounded the bugle, the PPCC in-charge said the party was finalising its proposed "Parivartan Yatra", which would be organised by November-end. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi would be the star campaigners for the party in Punjab…. In fact, the SAD chief is going from village to village seeking apology from the people for the four-and-a-half-year misrule of his party. They are organising Sangat Darshans and projecting Centre-sponsored schemes as their own," he said. About Rahul Gandhi's insistence for more representation to youth in the party set-up, Charak said the party "definitely needed young blood to take charge but at the same time the role of the old guard was a must."
|
|
Last Assembly Session Before Poll Begins Today
Chandigarh October 2 The Congress has called a meeting of its legislature party tomorrow to fine-tune the attack on the government. Bholath legislator Sukhpal Khaira has already requested the Speaker to allow a detailed discussion on the change in the transport policy. He is of the opinion that the party must target Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the biggest gainers from the change in the policy as brought out by The Tribune. However, the Congress is yet to decide whether to focus on the transport policy alone. There will be only two active days after obituary references are taken up tomorrow. Senior leaders feel the party lost out to the SAD-BJP alliance during the Budget session following its decision to boycott the debate on the Budget. There is a feeling that the party should not make the same mistake of stalling the House. Instead, it must ‘expose’ the government by participating in the proceedings. Besides the issue of loss to the state exchequer because of the change in the transport policy, the Congress will take up the “failure” of the SAD-BJP combine to protect the interests of the state on the Hansi-Butana toe wall issue, the burdening of market committees with loans at the fag-end of the government tenure, misuse of the police, wrong use of central funds and the faulty land acquisition policy, with focus on acquisition for the Gidderbaha thermal project. As far as the SAD-BJP government is concerned, besides passing a number of Bills, including special economic zones Bill and the private universities Bill, it will use the opportunity to compare the money spent on development by the previous Congress government with that of the SAD-BJP alliance. The assembly session will take up only obituary references tomorrow. There will be two sessions on October 4 and 5, following which the House will be adjourned sine die. TRANSPORT POLICY n Cong MLA Sukhpal Khaira (in pic) has sought a discussion under Rule 77 on the transport policy n
Claiming the policy has glaring loopholes and favours the family of the CM, which owns a fleet of buses, Khaira has said a discussion is needed to find out why losses have been caused to the public exchequer to suit the vested interests of pvt bus operators at the cost of the state-owned public transport
|
|
|
Skewed gender ratio dips further in Fazilka, Abohar subdivisions
Fazilka, October 2 Against 1,000 boys, there are 892 girls in Fazilka subdivision, according to the figures of the 2011 Census. The count of females is four notches down from 896 in the last (2001) Census. The total population of the subdivision is 2,78,869. "The falling sex ratio puts a question mark over the government efforts to check foeticide, particularly in this border district. It appears that despite imposition of ban on pre-natal sex determination and stringent provisions of the PNDT Act, the tests are being conducted frequently," said PNDT Act Committee (Civil Hospital, Fazilka) member Raj Kishore Kalra. Civil Surgeon, Ferozepur, Dr Kiranjit Singh, who assumed charge about two months back, said two ultrasound centres, of the total nine in Fazilka, had been sealed recently for after they were found flouting the norms of the PNDT Act. Meanwhile, several NGOs have been continuously putting in efforts to check foeticide. While Social Welfare Society Fazilka has been organising seminars in government schools, the Sarhad Social Welfare Society has been organising Kanya Lohri Mela since the past 3 years. In this fair, the parents of the girl child are
honoured.
|
|
|
Bumpy ride to Golden Temple puts pilgrims’ faith to test
However, an incomplete elevated road was inaugurated after a delay of one year under the SAD-BJP rule in 2010. The date of completion for the ramp leading to the shrine has been extended three four times. Due to construction work on this stretch, the way from the GT road to the shrine passing through Sheran Walla Gate is completely shut. Another road running parallel to it, which takes the pilgrims to the shrine passing through Ghee Mandi, is in a bad shape as it is dotted with potholes. The pilgrims cannot use this road either because trucks and other vehicles are parked near the Ghee Mandi. The road passing through Maha Singh Gate near the bus stand has one-way traffic and four-wheelers are not allowed, but the residents use it for to and fro traffic as they have no option. Similarly, chaos prevails on the road from Sultanwind Chowk to the Golden Temple, as it witnesses frequent traffic snarls due to narrow streets. The only comparatively better road which takes the tourists to the Golden Temple passes through the Hall Gate, but that too is marred by illegal encroachments and parking. While the traders in the Hall Bazaar have encroached upon the footpath to display their goods, almost half of the road is used for parking vehicles by the shopkeepers as well as the customers visiting the market. Consequently, if there is an increase in flow of traffic it takes a few moments for traffic getting clogged on the road. The stretch from Dharam Singh Market to the Golden Temple also sees various traffic jams daily. Except for these roads, the tourists have no other way to reach the shrine. When contacted, SGPC Secretary Dalmegh Singh said they had brought the matter to the notice of the Municipal Corporation and the district administration. He said the route from GT road to the Golden Temple via Ghee Mandi was in a pathetic shape while shopkeepers had encroached on the side where “sarais” (inns) were located. On the other hand, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said, “Whenever development of infrastructure takes place at such a magnitude, it has a gestation period and we are almost running on time. We regret the inconvenience being caused to the tourists on account of eight-laning at Tarawalla Pul, but once the work is completed they will forget all traffic woes.” Aggarwal said the ramp of the elevated road that will go straight to the Saragarhi Parking near the Golden Temple will be opened to public by October 31, which is likely to reduce the inconvenience being caused to the tourists to a great extent. Regarding the roads where traffic chaos prevails, he said the Police Department was already preparing a traffic management plan. Roads and the bottlenecks n
Jalandhar-Amritsar highway: Loads of dust greets pilgrims as a huge stretch starting from the Tarawalla bridge has been dug up for
eight-laning n GT Road-Sheran Walla Gate: Due to the
eight-laning work, this road is has been shut down n
Through Ghee Mandi: It is in a bad shape as it is dotted with potholes; moreover, trucks and other vehicles remain parked near the Mandi n
Through Maha Singh Gate: Has one-way traffic and four-wheelers are not allowed, but the residents use it as they have no option n
Through Sultanwind Chowk: Chaos prevails on the road, as it witnesses frequent traffic snarls due to narrow streets n Through the Hall Gate: It is marred by illegal encroachments and parking
|
|
Govt announces pre-Diwali bonanza for clerks, typists
Chandigarh, October 2 The notification to this effect is expected to be issued this week. According to sources in the finance department, the enhanced wages for these sections of state government employees will range between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500. The employees had resorted to a strike in May this year demanding a hike in salary following the decision to raise the academic and professional qualifications. Negotiations had continued thereafter and now the CM’s approval has paved the way for a pre-Diwali bonanza. According to information received, the basic pay of typists will go up by Rs 1,640, that of junior scale stenos by Rs 2,330, that of clerks by Rs 2070 and, finally, the basic pay of junior assistants by Rs 2,330. While the total number of employees, who would benefit could not be ascertained, the number will be in thousands, confirmed sources who pointed out that there are 86 departments operating under the state government.
|
||
|
British MP to take up Bhullar issue with UN panel
Amritsar, October 2 Bhullar is facing death sentence in India in connection with a bomb blast in 1993 leading to the death of several persons. Various Sikh organisations have been demanding converting his death into life imprisonment. Talking to mediapersons here, the British Member of Parliament pointed out that he would raise the issue within this week as it was the immediate issue concerning the Sikh community. “I will also take up the issue with ministers and members of the British Government and convince them to consider to raise the issue with the Indian Government during the Commonwealth meet slated to be held in Perth this month-end,” said Hughes. He was here to pay obeisance at Golden Temple and also to talk with several organisations to gather more information about Bhullar’s case. “As the issue has also been highlighted in England by several Sikh federations and as I am a human rights lawyer and member of the International Commission of Jurists, I thought it appropriate to have more information about the case,” he said. Hughes has arrived in India to interact with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. Answering media queries over the death penalty awarded to Bhullar, he said, “I personally oppose death penalty and it should be banned all over the world. Some other ways of severe punishment should be devised. There are instances in various parts of the world wherein persons were found innocent after awarding death penalty. There should be standard norms all over the world over death penalty.” Hughes was accompanied by Dr Juias, senior lecturer in international relations, Paramjit Singh of the Sikh Students Federation and Mandhir Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal
(Panch Pardhani).
|
||
|
Villagers call on Seechewal, want check on pollution in Tonsa
Nawanshahr, October 2 Earlier, the residents of Tonsa, Banah, Bholewal, Fatehpur, Tajowal, Rail Mazra and Prem Nagar, under the aegis of Water and Environment Control Committee and the District Youth Congress, took out a protest march. They also held a demonstration in front of the industrial units. Rajwinder Singh Lucky, former District Youth Congress president, apprised Seechewal of the “sufferings” being faced by the residents due to the toxic waste. The underground water of the villages in the vicinity has become polluted, thus rendering the water of 167 hand-pumps, 10 wells and 25 tube-wells which is unfit for consumption as well as for irrigation, said Lucky. He added that the water samples of these hand-pumps, wells and tube-wells had been declared unfit for use by the health and water and sanitation departments. The residents of these villages had been suffering from cancer and diseases related to lungs, kidney and skin, but neither the industrial units nor the authorities concerned had been taking any remedial measure.
|
||
|
Rickshaw-puller takes to aloe vera farming, earns lakhs a month through
exports
Ludhiana, October 2 Today, he is into aloe vera farming and earns lakhs of rupees every month. Dharamvir makes aloe vera juice by crushing the peels in a machine which has been invented by him. He prepares a gel mixed with rose petals that is sold in the domestic market as well as abroad for skin problems including acne, pigmentation and blemishes. Talking to The Tribune, Dharamvir, who had put up a stall at a regional-level exhibition at the Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), said: ”This processing machine was invented by me after I visited Ajmer about 15 years back, where I saw persons making amla (Indian gooseberry) ladoos. I resolved to come up with a similar machine and succeeded in doing so. “One machine costs about Rs 1.35 lakh. I have sold about 55 such machines. The state government provides subsidy on this machine”, said Dharmvir. From about 150 quintals of aloe vera, Dharamvir makes 5,000 bottles of aloe vera juice and each bottle is sold for Rs 120. From the peels, he makes a gel cream and one bottle is sold for Rs 80. “The entire process from sowing to harvesting takes about Rs 25,000. It is a highly profitable business”, said Dharmvir with pride.
|
||
|
Govt is losing control over BBMB: MLA
Chandigarh, October 2 In a statement here, he said despite a 54 per cent stake in the BBMB, the government was not posting a proportionate number of employees in the board because of which the state’s interests in the BBMB were not being protected. The Congress leader said the employee share of Punjab had been reduced to 20 per cent and Haryana was now virtually controlling the organisation. He said Haryana had recently recruited junior engineers for posting in the BBMB. Punjab’s share of posts in the project were lying vacant even as more than 5,000 employees were sitting idle for more than 15 years at the Shahpur Kandi project site. — TNS
|
||
|
BJP MLA among 9 named in court complaint
Amritsar, October 2 Brother of the deceased Bua Singh has filed a complaint with Chief Judicial Magistrate Kuldip Singh, alleging that his brother was killed while in custody. The case will come up for hearing on October 10. Those named in the complaint are BJP MLA Joshi, SI Harish Behal , the then in charge of the Majitha Road police station, ASIs Dilbagh Singh and Paramjit Singh, both posted at the Faizpura post, constable Amrik Singh posted at the Majitha Road police post, Kabir Sharma, Ashok Kumar, his brother Ranjit Kumar and Ajay Kumar. Bua Singh has alleged that the Faizpura police arrested his brother on July 27 in connection with a case and took him to the Majitha Road police station. He has said when Bawa was produced in court the following day, he had told him that the police officials had tortured him at the behest of MLA Joshi and one Kabir Sharma. On August 2, the family was told that Bawa had been found dead inside the Amritsar Central Jail. Accompanied by several Congress leaders of the area, the family of the deceased had held a protest, alleging that he had been tortured to death on the bidding of the BJP MLA, who denied his involvement in the matter. Bawa Singh was a Congress supporter, said sources.
|
||
|
Vienna flight brings 195 passengers to Amritsar
Amritsar, October 2 The all-economy flight will run twice a week (Sunday and Monday). Comtel Air’s CO Richard Fluke said a Boeing 757 aircraft was being used on the route which had a cargo capacity of 43 tonnes. Jasbir Mann of Comtel Air said the aircraft, with a passenger capacity of 220, had make a successful flight with 195 passengers on board. He said passengers from across Europe were brought to Vienna on feeder aircraft who then boarded the direct flight to Amritsar. A visibly pleased Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu said there was every liklihood of the flight being converted into a scheduled flight. This non-stop flight would help the passengers (a majority of them NRIs from Punjab} reach Europe in about six hours, he said. The Amritsar MP said the flight passengers enjoyed the special facility of being flown from here to Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded, free of cost. He said talks were on with private airlines for connectivity between Amritsar and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, he added.
|
||
|
Jaspal Bhatti chosen EC ‘Brand Icon’
Chandigarh, October 2 Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu, welcoming the EC decision, noted that exposing corruption and dissecting other social evils had been central to Bhatti’s satire. She said Bhatti had been chosen the “Brand Icon” because of his mass appeal, a clean image and political neutrality. Sidhu said the summary revision of electoral rolls would commence on October 4 and conclude on October 20. Sidhu cautioned the people against giving false details for getting themselves registered as voters. “In case anybody furnishes incorrect details or attempts to register as a voter at two or more places simultaneously, he shall be liable to be prosecuted under Section 31 of the RPA, 1950, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison,” she warned. — TNS
|
||
|
Electroplating units fall in line after PPCB raids
Patiala, October 2 Claimimg this, PPCB chairman KS Pannu said after the board took stringent steps to ensure the compliance of the pollution norms, the electroplating units in Ludhiana and Jalandhar have started the process of lifting the effluents to the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) at Ludhiana. Supporting his claims with the figures available with the board, Pannu said earlier the Ludhiana electroplating units were sending the effluent discharge of 1.25 lakh litre per day to the CETP, but after the board conducted surprise raids, the figure of the effluents being sent to the CETP rose to 2.6 lakh litre per day. He said, “Likewise, the effluents being received at the CETP from Jalandhar electroplating units have increased from 16,000 litre per day to 35,000 litre”. Notably, following the reports that the electroplating units in Ludhiana and Jalandhar were discharging their effluents containing chromium and nickel through the sewage system in the Buddha nullah and the Kala Sanghia drains, respectively, on September 24, PPCB teams had swooped down on 41 electroplating units at Ludhiana and 27 electroplating units at Jalandhar. “During the raids, more than 36 electroplating units were found defying the board guidelines. All the violators were served notices. Furthermore, during the past one month, the board had ordered closure of eight electroplating industries at Jalandhar for discharging their effluents into the sewerage system. Because of adopting a strict posture against the violators, now a majority of the electroplating units of Ludhiana and Jalandhar have started following the pollution norms,” said Pannu. He said the board officials had also convened meetings with various associations of the electroplating industries at Ludhiana and Jalandhar with a view to sensitising them about the issue. “A survey will be conducted to identify all those electroplating units that are yet to get themselves registered with the board, so that every drop of toxic effluent is counted and is ensured to be treated in a proper manner,” he added.
|
||
|
Ration depots in Punjab come under govt scanner
Patiala, October 2 The Patiala police has unearthed a major scam in Nabha with the arrest of two persons who were pilfering subsidised wheat and oil meant to be distributed through the public distribution system. The police has also arrested a government depot owner and the manager of a flour mill in this regard under Sections 420, 406 and 120 B of the IPC. The police arrested Subhash Chand, who had been allotted a licenced ration depot, but had further given it on contract to those who used to supply subsidised wheat to flour mills. “By this, the villagers were left with limited supply while the owners of the depot and the flour mills made easy money,” the police said. Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that there were nearly 14,000 government depots in Punjab which had been already operating while 1,337 more were recently added to these, taking the total number of depots to 15,337. The depots had fixed customers who were given fixed quota of oil, flour, pulses and other commodities at subsidised rates. Sanjeev Goyal, SHO Sadar, Nabha, said a nexus came to light when the owner of one of the depots was found selling flour and oil to a nearby flour mill. Questioning of the depot owner revealed that the depots were usually sub-contracted by the person who had the contract of the ration depot. This way the ration card holders failed to get full supply, as their share was sold to the private millers, Goyal said. AP Singh, district food and supplies controller, Patiala, said they would conduct more raids in the future to nab such depot holders and ensure that the poor get their allotted share of ration.
|
||
|
Punjab jails remain without jammers
Patiala, October 2 In a recent case, two inmates were booked by the police after two sim cards and mobile phones were recovered from their possession at the Nabha jail. Sources said despite a pilot project undertaken by the state government to install jammers at the jails across the state to discourage inmates from using mobile phones, the project was yet to see the light of the day following a fund shortage. According to GS Sikand, Kotwali SHO, Nabha, a case has been registered under Section 420 of the IPC against Sandeep Rai and Gurpreet Singh, both inmates of the Nabha jail. “We will now conduct investigation as to how they procured the mobile phones and who all they were in touch with,” Sikand said. The two were caught during a raid by the jail staff on September 12. “Though jammer equipment is lying without any use for the past few months in the jail, no one has come to fix it till date despite reminders,” said a jail staffer. “Since the company that has bagged the pilot project did not get its payment, it left the project incomplete,” he added. At present Punjab has seven central jails at Patiala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, five districts jails at Nabha, Sangrur, Faridkot, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, two open air jails at Nabha and Kapurthala, one women jail at Ludhiana and 10 sub jails at Fazilka, Majha, Mukatsar, Patti, Ropar, Barnala, Malerkotla, Phagwara, Dasuya and Pathankot. In addition, there is a jail training school at Patiala. “We carry out regular surprise checks to recover mobile phones from the inmates, but it is a matter of investigation as to how these inmates get the phones in the jail,” JP Singh, jail superintendent, said.
|
||
|
Lalit Bhatia trained police chiefs
of Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi
Chandigarh, October 2 It was during his stint at the then Police Training College, Phillaur - now Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Training Academy - that BK Gupta, Police Commissioner, Delhi, Pradeep Srivastava, Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh and Anil Kaushik, Director General of Police, Punjab, reported for training after their appointment at the Indian Police Service in 1975-1976. “I was not only reviewing their parade every morning, but also teaching them the Service Manual. During those years, Service Manual was not taught to the IPS probationers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Police Academy. Instead, most of them used to come to PTC, Phillaur, for training,” Bhatia said, who has now settled down at Patiala. Incidentally, Bhatia was the topper among the Punjab officers belonging to the 1970 batch of the IPS. His other batch mates were SC Jain, DR Bhatti, GS Aujla and MPS Aulakh, who all retired as DGPs. Both GS Aujla and MPS Aulakh had got their cadres changed to the Punjab Cadre. Bhatia, who specialises in police rules and cyber crime, now lectures at various police training schools and academies. His last posting was DGP, Vigilance, Punjab State Electricity Board. Meanwhile, Anil Kaushik, the senior most IPS officer belonging to the Punjab cadre, has become the fourth officer to head the Punjab Police during the current SAD-BJP Government in the state. Soon after taking over, the SAD-BJP Government recalled NPS Aulakh, younger of Aulakh brothers, from the Central deputation to head the state police. He later moved to the Central deputation again after his appointment as the Director General, as KK Attri replaced him. When KK Attri retired, the SAD-BJP Government took on inter-state deputation from Jammu and Kashmir to head the state police. On his superannuation now, Anil Kaushik has become the head of the Punjab police with his immediate predecessor being elevated as the Adviser, Home. Anil Kaushik has exactly a year to go for his
superannuation.
|
||
|
Rally held to make poor aware of welfare programmes Dera Bassi, October 2 Addressing the rally, former Deputy Chairman of the Punjab Planning Board RR Bhardwaj said the Centre had launched various welfare schemes for the poor such as MNREGA and Indira Avas Yojana, but it had not been implemented properly in the state. State president of the Dalit Chetna Munch Samsher Singh Purkhalvi said the SAD-BJP Government had not given the benefits of the welfare schemes to the deserving people. Those who addressed the rally included Congress leader Ram Pal Dhepai, Baljit Kaur Purkhalvi, Puneet Bhardwaj, Anoop Sharma and Sheema Tyagi.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Amritsar, October 2
Amritsar, October 2
Amritsar, October 2
Similarly, in Abohar subdivision, the ratio of girls was 864 in the 2001 Census, which, too, has come down by four points to 860 in the latest Census. The population of the subdivision stands at 2,52,345. The only consolation in the district is Jalalabad subdivision. Here, the population is 2,56,140. The ratio of girls has gone up from 917 in 2001 to 924. The figures were obtained from the government gazette by the Graduate Welfare Association Fazilka.
Amritsar, October 2