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Half way through yatra, Capt firmly in saddle
Amarinder dares CM in his den
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Joshi Cong screening panel chief
Don’t field Alam, warns Khalra Mission
Members of the PSEB Engineers’ Association holding a protest in support of their demands in front of the Punjab State Powercom Headquarters in
Patiala, on Thursday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
Nominations to the SGPC
Case against Dullet’s mother, two others
Flood-hit Ferozepur farmers await compensation
Info Commissioner pulled up
Vienna flight hits
turbulence
Former Cong minister Randhawa cremated
Speaker apologises to High Court
Advertisement tax: Ludhiana MC gives notice to bottling plant
A daily wager entitled to minimum pay
Appointment of Info Commissioners
Case reopened
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Half way through yatra, Capt firmly in saddle
Chandigarh, November 17 “Me and Parkash (Chief Minister) take off and land at the civil secretiariat grounds together nearly everyday”, says Capt Amarinder when questioned about his mode of travel. “It saves time. I can address two rallies in a day and get back for office work in the evening,” he explains as he sets off to attend two rallies along with party general secretary incharge Gulchain Singh Charak and former minister Surinder Singla. Amarinder claims that in October last year when he took over as Pradesh Congress chief, Congress workers were a demoralised lot. “Since then I have held 23 district-level meetings to tell the workers the party is with them”. He says he has interacted with party workers in every assembly constituency during the past two months. “This has had its impact with people gathering in large numbers at our rallies”, he claims even as the copter prepares to land at Baghapurana. A short stop at a party leader’s residence where the PCC chief is offered diet coke and potato wedges, his favourite snack, and he is off to the rally. Rally organisers exhibit their loyalty to him, saying senior leaders should not oppose his projection as Chief Minster candidate. Talking to The Tribune, Amarinder says he is grateful for the faith bestowed on him but that the Congress has its own process of calling a legislature party meeting to decide on the issue. At both the rallies, Amarinder is at his combative best, targeting the father and son duo (CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal). He repeatedly stresses that the Badal family, which had only 80 acres of land a few decades back, now has hotels worth Rs 2,000 crore, bus companies and television channels. Replying to allegations of money (Rs 400 crore) allegedly deposited by him abroad, he tells the people the Badals should show documents to prove their case. Shaking hands with enthusiastic youths rushing towards him, he is back in the car. “The last time I went to Switzerland was 15 years back. Tikku (his son Raninder) has never been there and does not visit Dubai either,” he says. “I have a studio apartment in Gold Crest Complex in Dubai’s Marian area for which I paid Rs 80 lakh and took permission to do so from the High Court”, he adds. Back in the copter, Amarinder is clear the Congress will be able to get its act together and announce the party ticket by December 15. He maintains winnability will be the sole factor for alloting the ticket and turns to Charak for approval, who says a clean image will also count. “That is the same thing”, says the maharaja even as he gets back to his e-mails.
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Amarinder dares CM in his den
Gidderbaha (Muktsar), November 17 While seeking the voters mandate in the upcoming assembly elections, PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and many senior party leaders were not only harsh in criticising SAD leaders Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal but also Manpreet
Badal.
If the CM and the Deputy CM were the target for “indulging in rampant corruption”, Manpreet and his brother-in-law were blamed for slapping fake cases on Congress workers in the Gidderbaha area. A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal accused the Congress leaders of using unparliamentary language, Amarinder Singh said he could not change the tone and tenor of his words as only these words fully described the character of
Badals. “We will wipe them out,” said Amarinder Singh while giving a call to party workers to make a thunderous electoral victory from the Gidderbaha as well as the Lambi seat. But when criticising the whole Badal clan, the PCC chief spared Mahesh Inder Badal, a cousin of Punjab CM and Congress candidate from the Lambi constituency in 2007 elections. “He is the only good Badal and he is with us,” he said. “If there is no infighting this time, I am sure the Congress will win the Gidderbaha seat,” said Jagmeet Singh Brar, CWC member and senior party leader from
Muktsar.
'Akalis have destroyed youth’ Dhirba (Sangrur):
Accusing the SAD president of befooling the people by not even fulfilling 15 of the over 200 pre-poll promises made by him in the last elections, Capt Amarinder Singh today said the Akalis had destroyed an entire generation of Punjabis with drugs. Addressing a rally here, he expressed concern over deteriorating law and order situation with Congress workers being targeted.
— TNS Sukhbir dares Amarinder Jalalabad (Fazilka):
Challenging PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh to spell out a single development project that he initiated and completed during his term, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said he was still waiting for the list of 51 projects that the former claimed to have initiated. Mind your tongue, Majithia to CAPT Ludhiana:
Youth Akali Dal president Bikram Singh Majithia today criticised Capt Amarinder for "using unparliamentary language" against Akali leaders. "People around him should suggest to him that he should show respect to those elder to him, irrespective of party affiliation," he said.
— TNS
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Joshi Cong screening panel chief
New Delhi, November 17 The five-member screening committee will be headed by Union Minister for Surface Transport CP Joshi, a Rahul Gandhi acolyte. It will comprise Delhi Congress chief JP Aggarwal, Capt Amarinder Singh, CLP Leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and party affairs incharge Gulchain Singh Charak. The screening committee will screen possible ticket aspirants and send its recommendations to the central high command. Punjab-based Congress leaders had been impressing upon the high command that the process of ticket distribution be undertaken well in time unlike the last elections. The state Congress is buoyed by the fact that BJP patriarch LK Advani’s rath yatra did not get the expected response in Punjab and wants to cash in on it. During the last assembly elections, the BJP had secured 19 seats in the 117-member House, all at the cost of the Congress and even sitting Congress ministers. However, early ticket allotment may see those denied the party ticket getting one from the People’s Party of Punjab led by Manpreet Badal. On the election committee are Union Ministers Ambika Soni, Ashwani Kumar and Preneet Kaur, former Chief Ministers Capt Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, MP’s Manish Tewari, Pratap Singh Bajwa, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar, Lal Singh, Santosh Chaudhary, Prof Darbari Lal, Santokh Singh, Sardul Singh and Ashwani Sekhri. Presidents of the state Youth Congress, state Mahila Congress, Pradesh NSUI, Pradesh Seva
Dal and Pradesh INTUC will also be on the committee.
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Don’t field Alam, warns Khalra Mission
Jalandhar, November 17 Addressing mediapersons here today, Harmandeep Singh, president of the Khala Mission, said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal were backing Alam accused of killing Sikh youths in fake encounters. “By projecting Alam as a SAD candidate from Malerkotla, the Badals have made a mockery of the Sikhs,” he said. The organisation warned of a statewide campaign, especially in Malerkotla, against the Badals if Alam was given the SAD ticket.
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Engineers hold protest rallies
Patiala, November 17 The president of the association, HS Bedi said: “Although the state government had fulfilled its promises by giving a written approval to the proposal to set up a thermal plant under the state sector and also allowed recruitment of over 450 engineers in power companies but the PSPCL management has not fulfilled even a single promise till date. It was promised by CMD/PSPCL that General Provident Fund trust shall be operationalised by putting in an initial amount of Rs 250 crore in the fund by October 28 but no amount has been credited to the fund.” The general secretary of the Association, Bhupinder Singh informed that the PSEB (now PSPCL) had used over Rs 1,800 crore of the Employees Provident Fund for various capital works and there is zero balance in the GPF account which is against the company law. Promotional scales were promised to be notified by October 31 but no orders have been issued till date. The engineers are agitated at the decision of the PSPCL management to give a meagre hike of "Generation Incentive" to employees and engineers, ignoring the recommendations of the committee constituted by PSPCL for this purpose. Engineers resolved that in case issues are not resolved, engineers will stage a "state-level dharna" at Patiala on November 22 and will also proceed on a one-day mass casual leave on November 30. The Association appealed to the Chief Minister, Punjab, to intervene.
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Nominations to the SGPC
The SGPC House has a total of 191 members, of which 170 are elected members. There are 15 nominated members, out of which five are from Punjab and 10 from other states. Apart from these, the jathedars of all five Takhts and the head granthi of Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar, are also the members of the House. Though there has been a lull in the SGPC ever since the poll results came out around a couple of months back, but with speculation rife about the possibility of the first meeting of the new SGPC House in early December the race for the nominations is set to gain momentum in the coming days. Various names like the former SGPC Chief Kirpal Singh Badungar, Raghujeet Singh Virk, Karnail Singh Panjoli and Gurinder Singh Bawa are doing the rounds for nominations to the SGPC. Panjoli was elected to the SGPC from Fatehgarh Sahib in the last elections. However, the Fatehgarh Sahib seat went to the Sant Samaj when the SAD forged an alliance with it for the SGPC polls. Now, the SAD may accommodate Panjoli by nominating him to the House. Virk had been a nominated member on the previous two occasions (1996 and 2004) and had also held the post of senior vice-president in the last House (2004 to 2011). Similarly, Badungar too had been nominated to the SGPC in 1996 and 2004. He had also been the SGPC president between 2001 and 2003. He had also been the SAD secretary in the past. Gurinder Singh Bawa, from Mumbai was nominated to the SGPC House last time as well. The former SGPC executive member Harbans Singh Manjpur, who was defeated from Hoshiarpur in the last SGPC elections in 2004, is also likely to be nominated as are Bhupinder Singh (Anand), Kuldeep Singh Bhogal, and Harinderpal Singh all of who were nominated from New Delhi last time. The Probables
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Case against Dullet’s mother, two others
Sangrur, November 17 The police said following a statement by Sultan Singh, a case of attempt to murder had been registered against Rikki’s mother Rajinder Kaur, brother-in-law Parveen Kumar and friend Vikas Jindal. SHO Sangrur Krishan Kumar said Sultan had told the police that they were attacked by Riki and his friends. Interestingly, the police has registered the cross case which states that two shots were fired at Sultan, one by Riki and the other by Parveen. According to the latest FIR, Sultan has alleged that Riki fired a shot at Sukhwinder while Parveen’s shot hit him. However, Riki’s family claims, “Only Riki had a weapon and there was no way that he fired a shot first and later gave the weapon to his associate”. Meanwhile, the main accused in the case, Sukhwinder Singh, has escaped from DMC, Ludhiana, and was declared “left against medical advice”. Sources said as per the postmortem report, Riki was shot in both legs under knees and later hit with a sharp-edged weapon behind his head. Criticising the FIR against the deceased’s mother, PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh said the case spoke volumes of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. “Had Congress leader Arvind Khanna not intervened, it was possible that only a case against the family members would have been registered,” he said. Sangrur SSP HS Bhullar said the case would be probed in a transparent manner. Defending the FIR, Bhullar said the case against the family members was lodged on the statement of Sultan Singh, but the final conclusion would be reached after a proper inquiry. Earlier, the police had registered a case against Sultan Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Sangrur DSP Kuldeep Sharma, additional SHO Surinder Bhalla and SAD worker Amanvir Singh Cherry.
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Flood-hit Ferozepur farmers await compensation
Ferozepur, November 17 As per official records, the loss to crops was estimated at Rs 18.5
crore. A detailed report in this regard was sent to the state government by the district administration a couple of months back but they had not yet got the money to disburse among the affected farmers. Two farmers and dozens of buffaloes and cows had also died in the floods that wreaked havoc in July. As many as 42 villages of Ferozepur
tehsil, 35 of Zira tehsil and 30 villages of Guru Har Sahai tehsil were affected. Crop on 37,732 acres was damaged. The Ferozepur tehsil suffered the maximum damage with 23,910 acres of crops getting submerged under water, followed by Zira (9,400 acres) and Guru Har Sahai (4,500 acres). The report prepared by the district authorities further reveals that 1,670 houses had got damaged in the
floods. Iqbal Singh Nambardar of Kamalwala/Mutheanwali village situated near Mallanwala said he suffered losses to paddy and moong crops on his 70 acres of land but has so far not received a single penny as compensation. Similarly, Tehal Singh, also a resident of the same village, who owns just four acres of land, said he does not even have the money to buy fertilizers, the cost of which had increased sharply in the past few months, for the next crop. District Magistrate S Karuna Raju did not pick up his phone, but one of his junior colleagues in the administration said the state government was contemplating sending the required money for distribution among the affected farmers.
Loss Account
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Info Commissioner pulled up
Chandigarh, November 17 The observations came as the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice R N Raina set aside an order passed by Punjab SIC Surinder Singh in December 2009. Surinder Singh demitted his office on May 16. The Bench also directed the state that persons to be appointed as SIC should be imparted training by conducting an orientation course, unless they are from the legal field. The directions came during the hearing of a PIL filed by RTI Activist JS Palial of Pali village in Hoshiarpur district. The petitioner had stated that despite an exhaustive complaint in November, 2005, against the former sarpanch of the village regarding “embezzlement” of panchayat funds, no inquiry was conducted. After an appeal was filed before the Information Commission on non-supply of information on the inquiry’s status, the panel passed an order on December 22, 2009, directing the Hoshiarpur DC to constitute a committee for conducting an inquiry into the complaint. The petitioner prayed the DC be directed to ensure completion of the inquiry in a time-bound manner. Issuing notices to the State of Punjab, the DC and other respondents, the Bench on the previous date of hearing had recorded in its order that the commission, while passing its order of December 22, 2009, directing that an inquiry be held and completed within two months prima facie had acted beyond its jurisdiction and powers.
— TNS
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Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for PAU VC
Ludhiana, November 17 Advances in biometrical genetics were efficiently mobilised by him for the new techniques of breeding. Using these methods, Dhillon developed 16 maize hybrids.
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Vienna flight hits
turbulence
Amritsar, November 17 The reports said, “Those aboard said they were held to ransom for six hours on the runway in the Austrian capital Vienna after the flight with Austrian airline Comtel Air from Amritsar stopped to refuel. Passengers said they were told they had to hand over £20,000 ($31,500, 23,500 euros) to complete the journey to Birmingham in the English Midlands. More than 180 passengers, who should have arrived in Birmingham on Saturday, finally reached the city late on Tuesday”. In view of this controversial episode, Comtel Air has now cancelled four flights for the coming weekend. The flight which was meant to leave Amritsar on November 15 also failed to take off. According to sources, this has affected around 450 passengers who were to board the flight. Meanwhile, there were also rumours that the aircraft has been held back in Amritsar as the airline is yet to pay some charges towards landing,
parking, ground handling operations etc. Amritsar Airport director Sunil Dutt said he was not
aware of the reason behind the cancellation of the flight.
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Former Cong minister Randhawa cremated
Dharowali, (Gurdaspur), November 17 Randhawa was a minister in the Giani Zail Singh and Darbara Singh-led Congress governments in the state. He is survived by two sons and two daughters. His younger son Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was a minister in the Amarinder Singh government from 2002 to 2007. Among those who attended the funeral were Rajasansi MLA Sukh Sarkaria, former minister Gurchet Bhullar, Avtar Henry, Ashok sharma, Aruna Chowdhury, Harpartap Ajnala, Sucha Singh Chottepur, Tripit Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Ashwani Sekhri, Raman Bhalla, Bhupinder Singh Randhawa, Raman Bahl and Ajay Verma.
— TNS
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Speaker apologises to High Court
Chandigarh, November 17 The Speaker has also requested the High Court to "expunge" adverse observations made against him. The High Court had minced no words to say a deliberate attempt to defy the orders was obvious. The Bench had also warned of initiating contempt proceedings in the matter. The observations came on a petition filed by Ramesh Chand against the Vidhan Sabha and three other respondents.
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Advertisement tax: Ludhiana MC gives notice to bottling plant
Chandigarh, November 17 Nearly two-and-a-half years after the notice was issued, along with the advisory, the High Court has quashed it. The petitioner-company had fixed “dealer boards” on shops, outlets and other premises within the jurisdiction of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. But the local body served the petitioner with the impugned notice dated August 11, 2009, calling upon it to provide a list of boards carrying the advertisement of Pepsi company along with their sizes, purportedly hung without authorisation in Ludhiana City. The petitioner was simultaneously advised to deposit advertisement tax with the Municipal Corporation account, failing which the boards were liable to be removed at the risk and cost of the petitioner-Company. After hearing the arguments, the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant asserted: “We hold that so long as the trade, profession or business being carried on within the land, building, shop or outlet etc. also includes the trade, profession or business in the goods, services and/or any other taxable activity in relation to which the advertisement board has been erected, exhibited, fixed or retained upon such land, building, shop or outlet, no advertisement tax can be levied in view of the proviso (c) to Section 122(1) of the Act. “Since it is the categorical case of the petitioner on facts that the dealer boards have been erected or displayed by it on the outlet, shops or buildings where one of the activity of the business or trade carried on includes the sale of the products marketed or distributed by the petitioner, no advertisement tax is leviable on such dealer boards”. Before parting with the order, the Bench clarified: “This declaration of ours, however, is subject to the caveat that wherever the Municipal Corporation is able to establish that the business carried on within the land, building, shop or outlet where the dealer boards have been erected or displayed does not at all include the sale of the products marketed or distributed by the petitioner-company, the Corporation shall be at liberty to call upon the petitioner for assessment of the advertisement tax with specific reference to such dealer boards and proceed further in accordance with law….
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A daily wager entitled to minimum pay
Chandigarh, November 17 The significant directions by the Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Jaswant Singh came on a bunch of petitions filed by Avtar Singh and other petitioners against the State of Punjab and other respondents. The Bench asserted: “We hold that daily wagers, ad hoc or contractual appointees are not entitled to minimum of the regular pay scale from the date they were engaged merely for the reason that the physical activity carried out by the daily wager and the regular employee is similar, but such general principle shall be subject to the following exceptions: “A daily wager, ad hoc or contractual appointee against the regular sanctioned posts, if appointed after undergoing a selection process based upon fairness and equality of opportunity to all other eligible candidates, shall be entitled to minimum of the regular pay scale from the date of engagement. “But if daily wagers, ad hoc or contractual appointees are not appointed against regular sanctioned posts and their services are availed continuously, with notional breaks, by the State Government or its instrumentalities for a sufficient long period i.e. for 10 years, such daily wagers, ad hoc or contractual appointees shall be entitled to minimum of the regular pay scale without any allowances on the assumption that work of perennial nature is available and having worked for such long period of time, an equitable right is created in such category of persons. “Their claim for
regularisation, if any, may have to be considered separately in terms of a legally permissible scheme. “In the event, a claim is made for a minimum pay scale after more than three years and two months of completion of 10 years of continuous working, a daily wager, ad hoc or contractual employee shall be entitled to arrears for a period of three years and two months”. The matter was placed before the Full Bench in “terms of the order passed by the single judge of this Court for consideration of issue of equal pay for equal work in respect of daily wage employees of the state government”.
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Appointment of Info Commissioners
Chandigarh, November 17 The Division Bench of MM Kumar and Justice RN Raina issued the directions on an application filed by advocate-cum-petitioner HC Arora. He has already filed a petition in public interest for quashing appointments of Chander Parkash and Bidhi Chand as State Information Commissioners on the ground that their appointments were made by the government on a purely pick and choose basis without following a fair and transparent procedure of inviting applications and their screening by a high-level committee. Notices were issued to the respondent-states for December 1. Appearing before the Bench, Arora quoted newspaper reports to verbally assert Ajit Singh Chanduraiyan was likely to be appointed as the SIC after his name was recommended by the selection committee comprising Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a cabinet minister. The petitioner requested the Bench that his application for restraining the States of Punjab and Haryana from appointing Information Commissioners be taken up today in view of the latest developments. Accepting the plea, the Bench took up the application today at 1.45pm. After hearing the petitioner, the Bench asserted that guidelines had been issued to Punjab and Haryana by a Full Bench in Salil Sabhlok’s case on August 17 for appointment of Chairman and members of State Public Service Commissions. The Bench had passed an interim order restraining the States of Punjab and Haryana from appointing State Information Commissioner without following the procedure as mandated under Article 14 of the Constitution in consonance with the guidelines issued by the Full Bench in the Sabhlok case.
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Case reopened
Moga, November 17 Investigating officer ASI Inderjit Singh said a case under Sections 382, 323 and 148 of the IPC had been registered in the Baghapurana police station against the MLA’s son. He said Rajdeep was allegedly attacked by a gang led by Kamaljit who also snatched away Rs 2,500 from him. The ASI said that Rajdeep was contesting elections for the post of block president while Kamaljit and his father were helping another youth leader. Rajdeep is a confidant of CWC member Jagmeet Brar. The incident has reportedly been brought to the notice of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Brar alleged that the FIR against his son has been registered at the behest of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal who was in Moga yesterday. “Sukhbir has become insecure after the huge response to the Congress rally at Baghapurana and is trying to get back at me and my family”, he claimed. Jalandhar:
Senior Congress leader Avtar Singh Henry seems to be in trouble yet again with the crime branch re-opening a case against him today. Congress leader’s son Gurjit Singh Sanghera had moved an application seeking registration of a criminal case against his father two years back. Reopening the case, the crime branch has summoned Henry asking him to appear before the SP (Crime Branch ).
— TNS
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Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh is firmly in the saddle, hopping across the state to firm up the Congress campaign which is focused on attacking the Akali leadership and highlighting the government “failures” on the law and order, drug control and social welfare issues.
Capt Amarinder Singh to head election committee
Back from pilgrimage
Amritsar, November 17
Amritsar, November 17