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Farmers fail to pay for canal water
Owners of vehicles torched at Mann village yet to be traced
CM must apologise to Mann village residents: Manpreet
After poll, turf war erupts among Akali Dal leaders
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Now, book with radical views supplied to primary schools
Role of senior Cong leaders under scrutiny
Punjabi varsity unable to disburse pension
Maluka dissolves recruitment cell
HC: SSA teachers entitled to 180-day maternity leave
Man gets life term for raping student
State to HC: Won’t
allow groundwater for construction
PUNSUP inspector held in wheat scam
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Farmers fail to pay for canal water
Chandigarh, May 23 A senior official of the Irrigation Department said that bills worth Rs 250 crore had been issued to farmers over the past three years, but a sum of only Rs 3 crore had been realised so far. Deputy Commissioners have been assigned the task to recover the dues with the help of revenue officials such as tehsildars and patwaris. A notification levying Rs 150 per acre per annum for canal water was issued by the state government in January 2010. Farmers were to pay Rs 75 per acre twice a year for land under canal irrigation. When Parkash Singh Badal took over as Chief Minister in 1997, his first Cabinet decision was to give free power and free canal water to farmers. Following this decision, the post of “nehri (canal) patwari” was merged with the revenue patwari cadre. However, the Congress government in 2002 decided to levy canal water charges again. Most farmers did not pay the charges and these continued to accumulate. In January 2010, the Parkash Singh Badal-led government waived the accumulated charges and decided to levy water charges at Rs 150 per acre per annum. Now, the farmers have been issued hefty bills. A BKU leader,Ghuman Singh Rajgarh, claimed that a farmer who owned 22 acres near Nabha had got a bill of Rs 34,000. At Sangatpura village, some farmers had been charged at Rs 500 per acre. Balbir Singh Rajewal, BKU president, said farmers in Hansro village near Nawahshahr had been charged at Rs 3,310 per acre. A senior official said that bills had been prepared on the actual use of canal water supplied through various outlets. For instance, if water meant for 500 acres was actually used for 100 acres, the farmer concerned would have to pay the bill for the water which otherwise would have gone to other farmers. Contradicting the official, farmers say if water meant for 500 acres is used for 100 acres, it will cause water-logging.
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Owners of vehicles torched at Mann village yet to be traced
Muktsar, May 23 Sources said the vehicles belonged to Akali workers from the nearby Bathinda district. Neither have the vehicle owners approached the police, nor has the police identified them so far. The damaged vehicles are parked at the Lambi police station. Maheshinder Singh Badal, Congress’ Lambi constituency in charge, said: “The vehicles belong to Akali workers. But the police has not yet identified them.” He asked as to why these workers, who were outsiders, were allowed inside a polling station. Congress leader Gurmeet Singh Khudian said: “The police is harassing our party workers.They are conducting raids at the houses of Congress workers and using foul language against the womenfolk. We will move the court.” Surjeet Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muktsar, said so far five persons had been arrested. He said nobody had come forward to claim the vehicles. “Raids are being conducted at the houses of those named in the FIR.” The police has booked 150 Congress activists, including 25 by name, all residents of Mann village, on attempt to murder, rioting and other charges. But no criminal case has so far been registered against any Akali worker.
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CM must apologise to Mann village residents: Manpreet
Bathinda, May 23 The former Finance Minister alleged that the Akalis indulged in coercion, intimidation and booth-capturing to emerge winners. He said Section 144 had been imposed on Mann village though it was the village residents who had been targeted by Akali goons during the May 19 polling. Since the residents had always respected the word of the Chief Minister, “he must apologise to them,” he said. He demanded an inquiry into the murderous assault on PPP candidate Lakhbir Singh
Sidhana.
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After poll, turf war erupts among Akali Dal leaders
Gurdaspur, May 23 There are five halqa in charge in the district, including a former Speaker and two former Cabinet Ministers. Each one is blaming the other for interfering in their respective areas. Former Cabinet Minister Balbir Singh Bath, whose son Tarlok Singh Bath was chairman of the Gurdaspur Zila Parishad during its last term, is furious with Parliamentary Secretary Des Raj Dhugga. The latter allegedly fielded an Independent candidate against his son from the Ghuman block samiti seat. Tarlok Bath subsequently lost to the Independent. He has sought disciplinary action against the Parliamentary Secretary. “I had spoken to Cabinet Minister Bikram Majithia about Dhugga’s anti-party activities. The minister was shocked at his audacity to field an Independent against the official nominee. I will be meeting the CM soon to apprise him of the development,” Bath said. Bath’s defeat has had former minister Sucha Singh Langah on a high. Bath’s shock defeat means that the decks have been cleared for Langah’s son (who won his zila parishad seat by a record 10,000 votes) to become the next chairman of the body. Dinanagar area in charge BD Dhuppar of the BJP blames Langah for the Congress winning some block samiti seats. “Langah’s interference during the distribution of the party ticket in Dinanagar is common knowledge. He made two of his confidants contest the elections, much against Dhuppar’s wishes. This worked in favour of the Congress,” claimed a senior SAD leader. Dhuppar has shot off a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal complaining against Langah. Likewise, Batala area in charge LS Lodhinangal has accused former Cabinet Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan of interfering in one of the zones under him.
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Now, book with radical views supplied to primary schools
Chandigarh, May 23 The book “Kanwal Kehnda Riha” by Jaswant Kanwal takes on the Congress for its role during the days of terrorism in Punjab. It does not spare the top SAD leadership either for “turning a blind eye towards the problem”. The author, known for his writings on social issues, appeals for amnesty for all those sent to prison during the days of terrorism. The book also contains inflammatory remarks on The book has added fuel to the ongoing controversy on irrelevant books being supplied to primary schools, including those containing vulgar or indecent content. “The issue is not the content, but the relevance of these books for students of primary classes,” remarked a senior government official said.
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Role of senior Cong leaders under scrutiny
Chandigarh, May 23 Though Pradesh Congress chief, Partap Singh Bajwa, led a vigorous campaign, senior leaders kept away, demoralising the party cadre. Party general secretary Fatehjang Singh Bajwa, when questioned, said the party president was looking into the issue and the high command would be apprised of the same. Fatehjang said some leaders had let down the party but that the workers’ morale was still high, contrary to SAD claims. Party spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira said it had come to light that a few leaders had purposely not put up candidates in the elections and allowed Akali candidates to be elected unopposed. He said it was a serious matter and should be deliberated upon. Sources said there was a feeling that the authority of the PCC president was not complete and that was why some leaders had kept away from campaigning or made a token presence at best. This had demoralised workers and some had entered the SAD fold. He said the poll result had gone against the Congress because of blatant rigging and intimidation by the Punjab Police. Had the State Election Commission done its duty, the final results would have been very different, he said.
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Police shoots dead criminal in Amritsar’s Putlighar area
Amritsar, May 23 The deceased was identified as Arvinder Pal Singh alias Lovely Smart. The Civil Lines police received information that Lovely was in a barber’s shop in Putlighar. A police team raided the shop. Lovely panicked and tried to flee by attacking the policemen with a dagger. A member of the police team opened fire and Lovely was hit in the chest. He was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Police officials claimed that Lovely was wanted in more than six cases of robbery, looting and attempt to murder. In November last year, he had attacked a traffic policeman near a cinema hall in the walled city. Dr Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said only one shot was fired by the police team and that too in self-defence. Ram Singh, Police Commissioner, said Lovely was a proclaimed offender. The policemen who had shown courage in trying to nab him would be recommended for a bravery award.
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Punjabi varsity unable to disburse pension
Patiala, May 23 University authorities claim the pension has been delayed because they have exhausted the corpus marked for the purpose due to a rise in the monthly pension after implementation of the fifth and sixth Pay Commission. They add they have now made a short-term arrangement to disburse the pension. The pensioners, however, claim while the university is spending huge sums on the construction of new buildings, they are being ignored. Meanwhile, the university has not been transferring the GPF contributions in the accounts of its working faculty since October 2012. The faculty members, under the banner of the Punjabi University Teachers Coordination Committee, recently submitted a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor in this regard. Though the university has now deposited two installments, the contribution for six months is pending. Registrar Dr AS Chawla said the university was working out modalities and was likely to release the pension within this week. "From this year, we have effected a change in our accounting system. We have outsourced the work to make it fully
computerised. Now, we are almost through with this work," he said. He claimed the problem arose since the university generated negligible revenue in May every year. "Now, with the admissions for engineering set to begin next month, we will be in a comfortable position. We will submit the remaining GPF contributions by next month," he added.
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Maluka dissolves recruitment cell
Chandigarh, May 23 The minister directed the principal secretary school education to constitute a recruitment cell by inducting officers with good background. He also asked the principal secretary to induct regular officers in the recruitment cell having more than one year of government service. — TNS
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HC: SSA teachers entitled to 180-day maternity leave
Chandigarh, May 23 The ruling by Justice Augustine George Masih is significant as prior to the judgment an employee was entitled to only 90 days of maternity leave as per the regulations and instructions of the SSA Authority. The ruling came on a petition filed by Reena Singla through her counsel DS Randhawa against the state of Punjab and other respondents. She had moved the High Court after her claim for extension of maternity leave was dismissed vide order dated March 1. Justice Masih asserted: “It is true that under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a woman is entitled to maternity leave of six weeks. However, there is no bar to the grant of benefits over and above the period specified in Section 5 of the Act. “The state of Punjab as well as the Central Government having adopted the norm of 180 days to be the maternity leave, the employees, who are working in Punjab under the SSA Society, would be entitled to the same benefit of 180 days.”
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Man gets life term for raping student
Sangrur, May 23 In his order, additional sessions judge Tejwinder Singh observed that the accused, Gurjant Singh (49), had gratified his animal instinct by raping a 14-year-old Dalit girl, besmirching the pious teacher-student relationship. He said the accused deserved no mercy. The girl was raped by her teacher on December 31, 2012. However, the matter came to the notice of her parents in the second week of February. On February 13, a case was registered by the Cheema police on the complaint of the victicm's father. — TNS
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State to HC: Won’t
allow groundwater for construction
Chandigarh, May 23 The affidavit said only surface or treated water from the nearby sewage treatment plant would be allowed for construction work. Water meters would also be installed on borewells or tubewells within a month. The claims came on a petition filed in public interest on the issue by advocate HC Arora. He was seeking directions to the Punjab Government for ensuring strict implementation of notifications issued by the Central Ground Water Authority.
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PUNSUP inspector held in wheat scam
Moga, May 23 As many as 28,000 bags of wheat had gone missing from the two storehouses on the Mudki road and Jai Singh Wala road at Baghapurana in the district. Parambir Singh Parmar, SSP, Vigilance Bureau, said inspector Daljit Singh was arrested after a criminal case under Sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against him and others at the bureau’s Ferozepur police station. “We produced him before a duty magistrate. He is now in police remand,” he said. After an inquiry by the PUNSUP authorities, the case was handed over to the Vigilance Bureau for necessary action. The PUNSUP probe had held former Moga District Manager Sher Singh, Inspector Daljit Singh and clerk Amarjit Singh responsible for the missing wheat bags. While Daljit Singh had been suspended from service, the retirement benefits of clerk Amarjit Singh had been held back, said a PUNSUP official.
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Police going slow?
Guilty will not be spared: Minister