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Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee poll-2013
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Cong, BJP in proxy war, eye Delhi poll
Videograph polling, demands SAD
Only two women in the fray
Candidate taller than party
Amritsar jail inmate turns out to be Pak drug lord
Badal seeks Rs 771 cr for biodiversity conservation
Punjabi University’s lifetime fellowship for Fauja Singh
Moga gets new SSP
Unemployed linemen lathicharged
PSPCL gets nod to buy 25,780 LU
Corruption case
Heroin worth Rs
115 cr seized
Home Guard commander, JE caught taking bribe
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Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee poll-2013
New Delhi, January 24 With Capt Amarinder Singh and the Badals, Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal, present in the National Capital to campaign for their respective candidates, accusations which are frequently bandied about in Punjab resonated in Delhi in the past 48 hours. Last night, Capt Amarinder Singh, who is here for SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna, told supporters when Badal and his son would return to Punjab, who would help you in Delhi? "It will be Sarna who will always be present nearby," he said. "I am here in my personal capacity," Amarinder Singh told the Tribune. He alleged: "Punjab policemen are roaming in Delhi in plain clothes threatening people and tracking down those who have relations in Punjab". This is not the first time that Capt Amarinder has meddled in Sikh politics. In the past, he had showed his presence at the SGPC elections, each time maintaining that it was in his personal capacity. Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal too said: "the Congress does not want to interfere in Sikh affairs. Amarinder Singh is here in his personal capacity". Addressing a gathering here today, Sukhbir said Capt Amarinder would not be able to save the sinking ship of the Sarna group. He alleged: "The Congress was dividing Sikhs on caste and geographical lines". This was in obvious reference to the issue of Punjab versus Delhi and Jat Sikhs versus non-Jat Sikhs that has emerged in these elections. The Badals enjoy the support of Jat Sikhs while Sarna's flock comprises non-Jats. Sukhbir reminded a gathering here yesterday that SGPC president Avatar Singh Makkar was not a Jat Sikh. Capt Amarinder said: "The entire Akali Dal, its MLAs, the entire SGPC and Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma are here. What is their role in Delhi politics? They have no relevance". Badal in reference to the DSGMC not agreeing to the Nanakshahi calendar said: "Sikhs as a community bow to the command of their temporal seat of the Akal Takht. They now have an opportunity to punish those who were denigrating its authority". The Congress even since 1947 had been hatching conspiracies to divide the Sikhs and to interfere in the internal affairs of gurdwaras, he alleged. In a sarcastic remark, Sukhbir said: "It was time for Rahul Gandhi to make his electoral foray in the DSGMC elections and give directions to the tottering poll campaign of Capt Amarinder Singh and Maharani Preneet Kaur". In war of words
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Cong, BJP in proxy war, eye Delhi poll
New Delhi, January 24 On the other hand, the BJP is also providing tactical support to the SAD to counter the Congress influence. The issue is not the DSGMC elections but its aftermath. The Delhi Government is keen to retain its influence over the Sikhs through the Sarna group as it will have a direct impact on the forthcoming assembly and parliamentary elections. The BJP is equally keen to win over the Sikh community knowing fully well that the DSGMC election could be a step towards controlling the reins of the state in near future. So, it appears that the Sarna group is fighting to retain its hold not only over the Sikh religious body but also over Sikh politics both at the national and international level through the UPA government. The SAD, on the other hand, has made the elections a prestige issue as control over the religious body would be a step towards fielding its own candidates in the next assembly elections and eventually becoming a part of the BJP-led Delhi Government in case of a victory. Yet nothing is on record. SAD president Sukhbir Badal says the aim is to defeat the Sarna group as it has defied the Akal Takht, the supreme religious body of the Sikhs. He said the Sarna group had refused to go by the Takht’s advice on the Nanakshahi calendar. The SAD has also made the DSGMC elections a fight to “punish” those who have allegedly supported Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, both accused of being a part of the anti-Sikh riots. Sukhbir claims that the Delhi government is actively helping Sarna and that its minister Arvinder Singh Lovely is at the forefront, masterminding the Sarna group strategy. He said Lovely was also minister in charge for the gurdwara elections and gurdwara administration. The SAD fears the next few days could see pressure building on Delhi Sikhs. This, sources said, could be through raids on business premises and pressure from tax or industrial officers and even labour and shop inspectors. Former minister and senior Akali leader Manjit Singh Calcutta, who is in the Sarna camp, denied these allegations saying all that the SAD (Delhi) had done was liaise with the Delhi government for the welfare of the community. He claimed no Congress leader from Delhi was campaigning for the SAD (Delhi). Calcutta said Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh was campaigning for the Sarna group because the entire Punjab government was camping in Delhi. The Sarna group claims the SAD has the active support of the BJP. Senior Sarna group leader Jaswant Singh Mann said the BJP involvement in the elections would be proved on January 27.
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Videograph polling, demands SAD
New Delhi, January 24 They told the Director that the Delhi police was "interfering" in their campaigning and was not allowing them to organise rallies. "The Delhi administration has adopted discriminatory attitude. It has removed our banners, but those of Sarna's SAD (Delhi) candidates have not been touched," said Dhinsa. The delegation also expressed its apprehension about booth capturing and rigging of votes in sensitive wards by the Sarna group and demanded the appointment of independent observers in all the wards, besides videographing of the polling process.
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Only two women in the fray
New Delhi, January 24 The SAD has fielded two women candidates, Mandip Kaur Bakshi from Tibbia College and Daljit Kaur from Vasant Kaur while the SAD (Delhi) has no women candidate. Kulwinder Singh, a senior SAD (Delhi) leader, said: "No women approached us for contesting the elections. If no woman is interested in gurdwara politics, we cannot force them to participate," he said. Many women here said their first resistance to participate in the gurdwara elections came from home itself. Sunmeet Kaur Arora, vice-president of SAD's women wing, had filed nomination from Lajpat Nagar, but later withdrew her application due to family pressure. She said women lack confidence and even if they managed to show courage they had to face resistance from their family. "Family support is important for women to come out of the household and have a say in activities such as gurdwara elections. Since the gurdwara management is dominated by men, the family members feel that it would not be comfortable to promote women," said Sunmeet. Senior women politicians feel Sikhism is a simple and impartial religion. "We don't have any restrictions. Old scriptures have also given more reference to women. I think they should not have any reason to belittle themselves," said Jasinder Sekhon, a documentary maker. "Gurdwara elections are different from other elections. We cannot promise exclusive facilities for women. But we can safeguard their interests while taking any decision," said Daljit. Male dominance The SAD has fielded two women candidates, Mandip Kaur Bakshi from Tibbia College and Daljit Kaur from Vasant Kaur while the SAD (Delhi) has none
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Candidate taller than party
New Delhi, January 24 More than the issues and the parties' banner, electorates of both the Defence Colony and Lajpat Nagar wards, with a strength of 10,803 and 5,591 voters, respectively, are influenced by the individual clout of Marwah and Sahni. Marwah, after parting ways with Sarna following differences over the Bala Sahib gurdwara hospital's affairs, formed the Kendriya Sri Guru Singh Sabha. Sahni's strong support base comes from Lajpat Nagar's Sikhs, a majority of whom migrated from Pakistan post-partition. A ration shop owner, Gurwinder Singh of Bhogal, a constituent under the Defence Colony ward, and Inderjeet Singh of Ashram, said: "Marwah is two-time MLA from this area. He has many relatives in Bhogal and Ashram where around 5,000 Sikh families reside. The election may go in his favour." Many in the area indicated that besides the local factor, which also offers the same advantage to Sarna's man Tirath Singh Bhatia, a first-time contender, the support of the builder lobby and politicians could give an edge to Marwah. Another local voter Trilochan Singh Bhatia said the contest this time was going to be tough between Bhatia and Marwah, although Punjabi Bagh resident Jitender Singh of the SAD was also claiming stake for the DC seat. Similarly, SAD (Delhi's) Jatinder Sahni has a stronghold in Lajpat Nagar where a majority of the voters say they will repose faith in his 20-year-long political career. Kuldeep Singh Chadha, a resident of Lajpat Nagar's Amar Colony, said: "The SAD's manifesto talks about running free buses between historic gurdwaras in Delhi. However, their promises made for Sikhs in Amritsar are yet to be kept”.
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Amritsar jail inmate turns out to be Pak drug lord
Amritsar, January 24 A resident of Gulbarg in Lahore, Mohammad Akram Chaudhary (57) reportedly owns 770 acres of land in the neighbouring nation, mostly around Lahore. On January 22, Chaudhary had reportedly made several calls to Lahore from the Amritsar jail. During questioning, he had revealed that he had procured the phone from an Indian prisoner lodged in the same jail for drug trade. Jail Superintendent Amrik Singh Waraich had formed a committee under Deputy Superintendent Satnam Singh to ascertain Chaudhary's whereabouts in Pakistan. Through their sources on the other side of the border, the jail officials got to know that Chaudhary was an international drug baron having good connections in various countries, including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A teetotaler, he never took to drugs himself but had set up links with drug mafia while being in Lahore itself. Despite ruling the drug trade, Chaudhary was never wanted in any such case in India. In fact, he was booked by the Jalandhar police on December 31, 2011, for overstaying in the country. He was shifted to the Amritsar jail three-and-a-half months ago. Earlier, he was lodged in Kapurthala jail. "We had searched him on several occasions earlier as well, but could not find anything objectionable against him. Now that a mobile phone was recovered from him, we were equipped to interrogate him," said the Jail Superintendent. About the accused Chaudhary’s name, however, never surfaced in any drug case in India The case in which he is lodged in jail relates to his overstay A teetotaler, he never took to drugs himself but managed to set up links with the international drug mafia, including in India
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Badal seeks Rs 771 cr for biodiversity conservation
New Delhi, January 24 An official of the Chief Minister’s office said Badal apprised Natarajan that this comprehensive project would ensure protection, conservation and development of forests, wildlife and natural resources in a holistic manner. It would also generate livelihood to alleviate poverty in forest fringe areas. He said this project would be implemented throughout the state in a phased manner in eight years.
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Punjabi University’s lifetime fellowship for Fauja Singh
While Olympian Brig Labh Singh was the chief guest, Fauja Singh and Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Vijender Singh were special guests. Brig Labh Singh said with the increasing reach of TV channels and internet and the emerging of nuclear families, children were being ignored, both at homes and at schools.
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He will replace Surjit Singh Grewal, who is on medical leave. The state government had forwarded a panel of three names to the Election Commission for replacing Grewal. Besides Chaudhary, other names in the panel were Yurinder Singh Hayer, SSP (Rural), Jalandhar, and Ranbir Singh Khatra (AIG, Vigilance). The byelection to the Moga assembly seat is scheduled for February 23.
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Unemployed linemen lathicharged
Sangrur, January 24 After the incident, the linemen along with their family members staged a sit-in on the main road near Dhindsa’s residence, blocking traffic for more than an hour. The protesters have been demanding issuance of appointment letters to 4,000 unemployed linemen for jobs in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited and unconditional release of their arrested colleagues and family members. They also raised slogans against the Punjab Government and the police. The linemen along with their family members had gathered at the local bus stand and then marched towards Dhindsa’s residence. They were led by Unemployed Linemen Union’s district president Gurbakhshish Singh Chhana. In order to avert any untoward situation, the police had beefed up security at Dhindsa’s residence. A Superintendent of Police, two Deputy Superintendents of Police and three Station House Officers were among those deployed to man the security.
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PSPCL gets nod to buy 25,780 LU
Patiala, January 24 PSPCL had come up with this figure after increasing the unrestricted demand for the same period of 2012-13 by 5 per cent. Unrestricted power demand is recorded when the weekly-off is being imposed on the industry and there is no power cut for consumers. However, the Commission in its orders dated January 17 observed that due to the deficient monsoon during 2012-13, it could not be taken as a base year to compute the unrestricted demand for 2013-14. “The commission has approved the short-term power purchase of 25,780 LU from April, 2013, to October, 2013. The corporation is advised to procure power in a judicious and economic manner to maintain its commercial viability,” reads the commission order.
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Corruption case
Chandigarh, January 24 In his appeal against the State of Punjab and another respondent, Davinder Singh had sought the quashing of sanction letters dated September 14, 2005, and November 17, 2006. The authority concerned, vide the letters, had granted prosecution sanction against the appellant. A Single Judge of the High Court had earlier dismissed his petition. Challenging the order, he filed the appeal before the Division Bench. Taking up the appeal, the Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain asserted that the Single Judge has dealt with the matter in great length. He observed that the grant of sanction was appropriate, “having regard to the report of the investigating agency and the serious charges levelled against the appellant under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Bench also referred to the Supreme Court judgment in the case of “Subramanian Swamy versus Manmohan Singh and another” to say it was not a case where the Court should interfere with the grant of sanction for prosecution “by exercising its power of extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, which is entirely discretionary in nature”. The Bench concluded: “We, thus, do not find any merit in this appeal and as such the same is hereby dismissed”. The Single Judge, Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa, had earlier observed the allegation against the petitioner was that he in connivance with certain other persons facilitated the lifting of sand from the panchayat land worth Rs 3 crore, while performing his duties as panchayat secretary of Machhiwara block
Ludhiana.
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Heroin worth Rs
115 cr seized
Gurdaspur, January 24 The police arrested two persons after recovering 15 kg of heroin (worth Rs 75 crore ) from their possession in Dera Baba Nanak sector along the India-Pakistan border. The contraband was seized in the wee hours from near Rosse village border outpost. BSF Deputy Inspector General PS Bains said the heroin was pushed into the Indian territory from across the fence through a 6-inch diameter plastic pipe. Among those arrested are Bhupinder Singh and Sukhdeep Singh. Their third accomplice, however, managed to escape while taking advantage of the dense fog on the border, Bains said. The accused were handed over to Kalanaur police where an FIR was registered against them. A pistol, two magazines and 15 rounds of ammunition were also recovered from the duo. In Ferozepur, the police seized 8 kg of heroin, worth Rs 40 crore, following a raid on the house of a “peddler” who is currently lodged in jail. Senior Superintendent of Police Varinder Pal Singh said the raid was conducted following a tip-off that Malkeet Singh of Fattewala village had allegedly brought the consignment from Pakistan before he was arrested.
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Home Guard commander, JE caught taking bribe
Sangrur, January 24 Ravinder Singh, Inspector, Vigilance Bureau, Patiala, said Iqbal Singh had been dismissed from service in 1996. He said when Iqbal asked Parminder Singh to get him reinstated, the platoon commander demanded Rs 2.30
lakh. He said after this Iqbal Singh complained to the Vigilance Bureau following which the VB laid a trap and caught the platoon commander red-handed accepting the bribe. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Parminder Singh. In another case, the VB arrested a Junior Engineer Sukhdev Singh Virk posted at
Powercom, Mandi Gobindgarh, for demanding a bribe of Rs 1,500 from a consumer.
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Sangrur, January 24
Capt Amarinder Singh will not be able to save the sinking ship of the Sarna group. The Congress is trying to divide Sikhs on caste and geographical lines
The entire Akali Dal, its MLAs, the entire SGPC and Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma are here. What is their role in Delhi politics? They have no relevance
Mohammad Akram Chaudhary reportedly has connections with top drug smugglers in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
Patiala, January 24
Chandigarh, January 24