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Convicted
Cops
Farmers plan to gherao Delhi
Fearing backlash over low rates, pvt traders boycott basmati 1121
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Glut: In Bathinda, potatoes go for less than a rupee per kg
Parties take to Peter rehras for ferrying workers to poll rallies
Capt pooh-poohs Gadkari’s defence of dropped ministers
Old EVMs kept in 3 jails; their fate undecided
Cops promoted by former DGP ‘keeping watch’ on his rivals
Liquor bill reports wrong: Hotel owner
Kapurthala
Jail Violence
After contractual staff, now Rural Development Officers on warpath
Khalsa college gets 8 research projects
Now, get insurance policies online
Replacement of damaged spinal disc not successful, says expert
Govt schools suffer due to lack of funds
Former MLA’s son dies in mishap
Man on death row ends life
First SGPC meet at Teja Singh Samundari Hall
7 get life term for murder
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Convicted Cops
New Delhi, November 25 A Bench, comprising Justices DK Jain and Anil R Dave ensured this by passing an interim order, vacating the October 19, 2011 stay granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the guidelines. Initially, the Bench expressed “shock” over retaining such policemen in service despite the conviction and sentence. Senior advocate Harish Salve, arguing for the state government, acknowledged that “three years is no yardstick.” Salve assured the Bench that he would convince the state government to resolve the issue by finding an acceptable solution. The Bench, however, clarified that it was open to the HC deciding the issue, arising from a PIL pending before the HC, on merits. The PIL petitioner has pleaded for quashing the guidelines circular issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) to various appointing authorities in the Police Department, directing them not to dismiss personnel facing less than three years of sentence. Under the circular, such policemen would be subjected to punishments other than dismissal. According to the PIL, the circular was in “flagrant violation” of Rule 16.2 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934. Salve also assured the SC Bench that the state government would take “appropriate action in two weeks,” upon which the court clarified that the hearing in the HC would stand deferred till then. The state government has moved two petitions in the SC through its standing counsel Jagjit Singh Chhabra, one relating to the contempt proceedings in the HC and the other pertaining to the HC stay. The SC Bench passed the order when the state sought interim relief and an early hearing. The state government has challenged the HC order, contending that the HC had given the final relief in the form of interim relief. Further, the HC had failed to appreciate that the circular was meant only for non-gazetted police officials.
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Farmers plan to gherao Delhi
Amritsar, November 25 The announcement was made at the “Mahapanchayat”, a national-level congregation of farmers organised by the BKU, at local Bhagtanwala grain market where thousands of farmers from all over the country gathered. BKU’s Punjab chief and national coordinator Ajmer Singh Lakhowal alleged that the Centre had adopted an “anti-farmer” stand. He claimed the farmers all over the country were becoming poorer while the government was turning a blind eye to their plight. “The Union Government seems to be little concerned about our demands. Thus, we have to stop its rozi roti (bread and butter), only then they will hear us,” said Lakhowal roaring from the stage as the farmers wearing blue turbans and caps thronged the grain market. The protest saw the participation of farmers from as far as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP. They said they wanted to gherao Parliament first on March 9 and then on October 18 but due to the assurance given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that their demands would be addressed, they called off the stir. BKU’s national president Chaudhary Rakesh Takait said their demands included fixing of MSP and prices of agricultural products as per Swaminathan Report, bringing farmers and landless workers into the bracket of reservations, fixing quota in educational institutions and government jobs, pension schemes for farmers who were above 60 years of age and subsidies on fertilisers and improvised seeds, bringing fertilisers under government control, fixing Rs 5,000 as pension for widow farmers and writing off their loans and Rs 5,000 per month compensation for border area farmers.
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Fearing backlash over low rates, pvt traders boycott basmati 1121
The decision comes a day after the farmers along with commission agents staged a dharna and even blocked traffic to protest the “autocratic” attitude of the traders who were purchasing the paddy variety at a low rate of around Rs 1,400 a quintal. A section of farmers alleged that the basmati 1121 variety was being sold at a higher price in nearby markets. Fazilka Rice Millers’ Association president Tejwant Singh Tita said the purchasers were feeling insecure after yesterday’s protest. “Traders apprehend physical assault and, therefore, they have decided to boycott the purchase for an indefinite period,” he said. The rice millers claim that the price of the processed 1121 basmati rice was around Rs 3,200 to Rs 3300 per quintal. “Therefore, it is not viable for them to purchase the paddy at higher rate. But, whenever they feel the necessity of purchasing paddy, they will enter the market,” he said. Additional Deputy Commissioner Charandev Singh Mann today called a meeting of the rice millers, farmers and commission agents to resolve the issue. However, the private traders did not turn up. “The issue is likely to be resolved by Monday,” said Mann. Meanwhile, the farmers have demanded compensation from the government. “As the remuneration being offered by the traders is too less, the government should give a relief of Rs 300 per quintal to the farmers,” said Baldev Dhingra of Mohammad Pira village of Fazilka subdivision. Capt MS Bedi, a progressive farmer, said, “If the farmers are not offered better prices, they will stage dharnas outside rice mills.” Arhtiya Association president Daya Krishan Sachdeva has demanded that the government should fix a reasonable rate of the 1121 variety of paddy.
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Glut: In Bathinda, potatoes go for less than a rupee per kg
The subsidised medicines and seeds helped farmers to increase the potato production amidst favourable weather conditions and no outbreak of any major disease. Bathinda has the highest number of potato growers in Punjab after Jalandhar. Potato crop was grown on more than 5,080 hectares in Bathinda during the last season and this year too farmers have sown potato over 5,200 hectares in the district. “The seeds of glut were sown during the last season when the area under potato cultivation was 5,600 hectares and production was at an all-time high”, said Bathinda Horticulture Officer Narinderjit Singh. Farmers are unable to find buyers for even less than a rupee per kilogram as this is a perishable crop and its sugar content increases manifold after a certain period. “We are now forced to convert the food item into fodder for the milch animals,” said Ramandeep Singh Sidhu, growing potato on 50 acres at Rampura. The per acre yield of the potato in the area is 250 to 350 bags per acre. Farmers are now forced to give Rs 65 per bag (March to October) to the cold storage owners and Rs 20 for the empty bag and carriage charges upto the cold storage. Sidhu said that many farmers have now expressed their helplessness to pay the cold storage charges. Jagtar Singh Brar, a potato grower from Goniana, said that the overall production of potato is increasing following subsidised medicines, seeds and other help extended by government agencies. He demanded the formation of a council on the lines of UK’s British Council for Potato, which collects data from farmers and counsels them for judicious use of their land for potato. Dr MS Sidhu, senior consultant of contract farming of basmati rice and global gap certification of potato, was appointed consultant to Markfed. He said that the reason behind the glut is due to overproduction in all states of the country. He said that the increased production of potato has been witnessed in Bihar, MP, Bengal, Gujrat and UP, which led to the glut.
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Parties take to Peter rehras for ferrying workers to poll rallies
“The demand for these rehras rises during each election as they are the most economical, easily available and fit for bumpy roads. Since it’s election time, the cops can’t dare to impound these vehicles,” said Sukhchain Singh, owner of a Peter rehra in Sardulgarh. “The police fails to trace the owner or driver of the rehras as they do not bear registration numbers. The drivers get their Peter rehras released using political pressure,” said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity. He said that the assembling of these rehras had been continuing for the past more than two decades in Sardulgarh, with the “help” of local leaders and politicians. They are used to ferry cattle, construction material and travel because they are cost-effective. Despite being involved in many accidents all over Punjab, these rehras are assembled at Sardulgarh and nearby towns of Haryana without any check. Even the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a ban on them. In a recent incident, 26 schoolchildren received injuries near Jhunir in Mansa on November 9 when the Peter rehra they were travelling in collided with a truck. The children, all students of a government school, were being taken to another school for district-level games. One of the students received serious injuries and was referred to the
PGIMER, Chandigarh.
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Capt pooh-poohs Gadkari’s defence of dropped ministers
He asked Gadkari to explain as to why the three were removed from the Cabinet if not for graft. The former Chief Minister said since the BJP was trying to take a high moral ground on corruption, it was finding it difficult to explain the removal of its own ministers on corruption charges. “There is a dichotomy between what they preach and what they practice”, Capt Amarinder Singh remarked, while maintaining that Gadkari’s defence of his tainted leaders was too little, too late. “It was aimed at giving the tainted leaders a clean chit on the eve of elections as the party has no better candidates to field and has to bank on the tainted lot,” the PCC chief said.
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Old EVMs kept in 3 jails; their fate undecided
Ludhiana, November 25 As the new EVMs, used during the West Bengal assembly elections, have already arrived in all the districts across the state, the Election Commission is undecided about the fate of the old EVMs. There has been a debate about the first-generation EVMs not being foolproof. The officials maintained that the EVMs are being kept in jail to prevent these from falling into the hands of tech-savvy anti-social elements, who may try to make the most of these machines in the ensuing assembly elections. Kusumjit Sidhu, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, said: “The EVMs that have technical snags or are non-functional have been kept in prison for security reasons.” Asked whether the old EVMs were being dumped because these were not foolproof, the Chief Electoral Officer said: “I cannot provide you details about the EVMs at the drop of the hat.” Sources said the need for new EVMs was felt following inputs that the old ones could be tampered with. During the previous Lok Sabha elections there were complaints of non-functioning EVMs. A group of IT experts from the US had put the Election Commission in a quandary last year when they claimed that the Indian EVMs were not fool-proof and asked the Election Commission to explore other forms of voting that provided "transparency" and security. Inspector-General (IG-Prisons) Jagjit Singh said: “The EVMs have been kept in three jails for security reasons. A majority of these have been kept in a vacant portion of the Ludhiana Central Jail. I do not have the details of the other two jails as yet.” Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari said: “Around 7000 EVMs were sent to the central jail on the orders of the Election Commission and a new consignment of 5000 EVMs, used during the West Bengal elections, have already arrived. Election Commission technicians are checking the condition of the new machines. It is up to the EC to decide as to what is to be done with the old
EVMs.”
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Cops promoted by former DGP ‘keeping watch’ on his rivals
Moga, November 25 Security guards Gobind Singh and Surinder Singh deployed with his cousin Micky Gill have been promoted to the rank of ASI sans monetary benefits. The SHOs of three police stations-Moga City (I), Moga City (South) and Moga (Rural)- falling under the Moga segment have also been promoted. Among others given out-of-turn promotions are ASI Amarjit Singh, driver of the SHO of Moga City (I) police station, Satpal Singh who was the complainant in the passport scam, Pritam Singh, brother of Surinder Singh (Micky Gill’s gunman) and Surjit Singh. Some of these cops have been exempted from departmental training. Dilbagh Singh, a reader with the SSP, who has been given the rank of Sub-Inspector, has been exempted from training by keeping him in the A-II category. The out-of-turn promotions have created ‘divisions’ in the police force and those denied service benefits are seeking legal opinion.
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Liquor bill reports wrong: Hotel owner
Ludhiana, November 25 “The bill was for wafers, chocolates and snacks. None of the officials or players consumed liquor. The Sports Department should have discussed the issue with us before levelling such allegations," Khangura said. Jaskaran Kaur, coach of the women’s kabaddi team, claimed that neither any official or player had consumed liquor during their stay in the hotel. Jaskaran Kaur said: "Most kabaddi players had never stayed in a five-star hotel. They were not aware that they would have to pay for snacks and fruit." Jaskaran Kaur's husband Kulwinder Singh, coach of Mai Bhago Kabaddi Academy, Nawanshahr, said he was allowed to
accompany the team as a majority of players in the Indian kabaddi team were from the academy. Kulwinder Singh denied having stayed at the hotel. Despite repeated attempts, District Sports Officer (DSO) Surjit Singh Sandhu could not be contacted for comment.
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Kapurthala
Jail Violence
Jalandhar, November 25 The Kapurthala jail authorities have recovered more than 10,000 strips of sedative tablets, which were allegedly looted by violent inmates from the jail hospital which was set on fire by them after the “loot” of the intoxicants on Sunday. As many as 21 female inmates were also shifted from the complex to the Ludhiana-based Central Jail today. Also, 36 inmates were shifted out on Thursday leaving the total number of inmates to 1,700. Jail inmates had gone berserk and put the newly-commissioned jail complex on fire on Sunday after their co-prisoner Baldev Singh alias Debi had passed away allegedly due to delay in medical care. “We have suspended the Chakkar Havildar while two other officials were also suspended but their suspension orders have been kept in abeyance due to the ongoing magestrial probe,” said the Punjab DGP (Jails), Shashi Kant. His priority was to hold a de-addiction camp in the jail. Additional staff, including a Deputy Superintendent and two probationary officers from Patiala, have been deployed at the jail to restore normal functioning. The services of the jail doctor, Anirudh, it was learnt, have been placed at the disposal of the Jalandhar Civil Surgeon, according to Inspector-General (Jails) Jagjit Singh.
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After contractual staff, now Rural Development Officers on warpath
Mohali, November 25 The Joint Action Committee of the department has further threatened to boycott all schemes, programmes and functions of the state government. The committee lamented that a proposal with a draft of the memorandum sent about a
month back to the council of ministers had not been approved. To register their protest, the officers sat on dharna within the premises of the state headquarters of the Rural Development and Panchayat Department in Phase 8 here. Shivdev Singh, vice-president of the association, said the pay scales of the Veterinary Officers and Agriculture Development Officers, who were earlier extension officers in the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), were raised higher that that of DDPOs in 1991. The state government was requested to maintain the inter-cadre parity of the pay scales and give a higher pay scale to the BDPOs. Though the pay scales were revised, the Fourth Pay Commission
disturbed the inter-cadre pay parity. It led to a situation that after the promotion of BDPOs and DDPOs in the department, their pay scales were reduced. By revising the pay scales, the government would face an additional liability of around Rs 1 core annually. The government by paying higher scales to the Panchayat Officers and Village Development Officers was burdened with an additional financial burden
of burden of about Rs 17 crore, annually. From next week, the association has announced its decision to hold demonstrations at divisional
headquarters and district headquarters.
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Khalsa college gets 8 research projects
Patiala, November 25 Dr Dharminder Singh Ubha, Principal of the college, got a project approved on “Intellectual capital disclosure: A comparative study of Indian and Australian IT sectors”, Prof Gursharan Singh Gill, from the Department of Sports and Physical Education, got a project on “A study of kinanthropometric characteristics and physical fitness of urban and rural male college students.” Prof Rajwinder Kaur, Department of Commerce and Management, will work on “Changing system of Indian banking sectors-problems and perspective.” Dr. Pushpinder Kaur, from the Department of Punjabi, will work on “Inter-cultural tension in Bartanvi Punjabi writer Swaran Chandan's novel Kanjkan”. The project of Prof Sukhmohan Kaur of Department of Punjabi, is “Concept of humility in Guru Nanak Bani”. From the English Department, Dr Rubal Brar will work on “A study of myth aesthetics in Wole Soyinka's ‘Death and King's Horseman’ and Raja Rao's ‘Kanthapura,’ with special reference to Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes”; Prof. Navdeep Kaur on “A cyborgian feminist study of Margaret Atwood's novels” and Dr. Ayesha Khosla on “D.H. Lawrence : A study of libidinal relationships from the tantrik and Sikh perspective.”
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Hippo’s fate still in a limbo
Patiala, November 25 Speaking to The Tribune, Shakar said that he would seek a detailed report on the entire issue from the local authorities and further direct his staff to act tough against the offenders. “I have asked the Wildlife Department to submit a report”, he stated. Following a report in The Tribune, the Patiala Deputy Comisioner had asked the SDM, Patiala, to submit a detailed report on the ill hippopotamus being showcased in Jumbo Circus in Patiala. Earlier today, officials from the Animal Welfare Board of India visited the circus and inspected the hippo along with the veterinary experts. The Animal Welfare Board of India has already issued a show-cause notice to the circus authorities for their failure to reply to the earlier notice when the hippo was showcased despite suffering from “corneal opacity and its vision being very less”. Meanwhile Patiala DFO (Wildlife) Ashwani Kumar today said that he was consulting legal experts before acting on the complaint. “We would legally take action in two days”, he assured.
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Now, get insurance policies online
Fatehgarh Sahib, November 25 He said that due to the use of IT, Oriental Insurance Company has captured 11 per cent share out of 60 per cent share captured by the PSUs in the market. He said: “In the competitive market we are the most favoured company and the profit of the company is second highest in half year among all the PSU companies”. He said that the main focus of the company is on retail business through one man office and agency force. He said that company has been awarded the preferred General Insurance Company by CNBC TV and MCX this year. Addressing the gathering he said that customers are of esteem value for the company, no bank or insurance company can make any progress and success without the co-operation and confidence of the customers. If any company loses the confidence of customers, it loses its existence.
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Replacement of damaged spinal disc not successful, says expert
Patiala, November 25 Goel said that now the thrust area for the researchers is to try and make sure that the problem of the degenerative disc is cured through growth of the stem cells in the degenerated discs. "It may take 10 years but surely the growth of the stem cells may be one of the best methods to regenerate the degenerated disc", he said. He also said that India is producing one of the best doctors in the world and "Many countries of the world are currently calling Indian surgeons for surgeries pertaining to spine and other health ailments. At the same time, patients from various parts of the world visit India to get treated for different type of ailments. This is one of the most encouraging factors for Indian doctors", he said. Goel has innumerable global achievements to his credit. A US-based Indian biomedical engineer, he is presently the co-director of the University of Toledo's, Engineering Center for Orthopaedic Research Excellence. With three decades of academic career in bioengineering work on spinal diseases and mechanics, as well as orthopaedic biomechanics, Dr. Goel is a three-time Volvo Award winner on lower back pain research. Last year, he was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award by International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine.
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Govt schools suffer due to lack of funds
School heads are perturbed as they don’t have any funds for paying various bills, including bills for electricity and water supply. Talking to The Tribune, one of the school heads said now the schools were not charging any local funds, which include admission fee, re-admission fee, amalgamated funds, PTA funds and sports funds. “Therefore, we are facing great difficulty in running the school. The entire work of the school, right from paying telephone, electricity and water supply bills to paying tournament fee and sending them out of city for any cultural or sports activity, has put financial burden on the school authorities,” he added. Another teacher said, “In bigger schools, the electricity bills run into thousands and how can we pay it without money? We are shelling money from our own pockets for stationery, chalks and fuel for generators but till how long will we be able to sustain it? This is not our responsibility but we are being forced to pay for it. If the government really wants to help students and also run the schools smoothly, they should reduce the
funds rather than discontinuing them.”
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Former MLA’s son dies in mishap
Muktsar, November 25 A BDS student at the Devi Lal University in Sirsa, Arjun Singh (19) was on his way home to Muktsar when the car he was riding in with his friend rammed into a tree. While Arjun Singh died on the spot, the condition of his friend Surinder Singh, a Ferozepur resident, was stated to be serious. Kuku was elected an MLA from Muktsar in 1997 and is a contender for the party ticket for the coming assembly elections.
— TNS
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Man on death row ends life
Patiala, November 25 Mukesh’s body was found hanging from the bathroom ceiling. An inmate described Mukesh as a god-fearing man who did not speak much. Additional Jail Superintendent Rajan Kapoor said Mukesh had told a fellow prisoner that he had been framed by a relative. When the jail officials phoned his wife to claim her husband’s body, she refused to do so. “We have now informed some relatives in UP about the death, they said.
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First SGPC meet at Teja Singh Samundari Hall
Amritsar, November 25 As per a release issued here today, the meeting would be held at the Teja Singh Samundari Hall, which houses the SGPC headquarters, here at 1 pm on December 5. The meeting would witness co-option of 15 members, which includes five from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh while the remaining 10 from other states of the country. The SAD had swept the SGPC elections held in September, winning 157 of the 170 seats. The remaining 13 went to others, including Independents, Panthic Morcha and SAD (Amritsar). — TNS
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7 get life term for murder
Ludhiana, November 25 Those imprisoned include Ram Kumar alias Raj of Mahiraj Ganj, Rajinder Yadav, Pankaj Kumar of Mugger district, Parmod Kumar, Suraj Kumar of Bhagalpur district, Vicky Pandey of Muzaffar Nagar and Krishan Kumar Mishra of Darbhanga district. Delivering the verdict, Additional Sessions Judge Mandeep Pannu held that the prosecution had proved the guilt of the accused beyond doubt. The plea of leniency raised by the accused was declined by the court with the observation that they had taken the life of an innocent person, Swaran Singh of Basti Jodhewal in Ludhiana, without any fault of his. The victim was done to death with a sharp-edged weapon when he resisted dacoity on the train 4682 DN. Then, the train was moving from Doraha to Khanna. Several other passengers of Jalandhar were also looted. After committing the dacoity, the accused pulled the chain of the train and fled once it stopped. A case under Section 302, 396, 148, 149 and 25 of the Arms Act was registered against the accused following a complaint by Khanna station superintendent. The accused were arrested later while they were planning another
dacoity.
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After facing protest from MREGA Contractual Workers Union for higher wages and retired employees of the Rural Development and Panchayat Department over pensioner benefits over the past few weeks, today it was the turn of 200- member Officers’ Association of the Department to go on indefinite strike in protest against government’s failure to protect their pay scales as existing before January 1, 1996.
Patiala, November 25
Fazilka, November 25
Bathinda, November 25
Sardulgarh (Mansa), November 25
Chandigarh, November 25
Patiala, November 25