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HC notice to state on drug menace
CM’s pictures on ambulances to cost state exchequer
Rs 36 cr
Dengue scare: Dependence on Mac-Elisa test raises hackles
8 dengue cases in Mandi Gobindgarh
Sidhu adamant, says Deputy CM can’t pass the buck
forest land grab
Industrialists not paid
Rs 300 cr VAT refunds
Dera chief’s kin Jassi eyeing
Cong LS ticket from Bathinda
Storm damages paddy in border belt
PSPCL loss Rs 3.76 crore
Central team member Samra questions cost of laying drains
Books scam
Compensation, jobs sought for kin of farmers driven to suicide
Women with photographs of debt-ridden farmers, who committed suicide, participate in a rally at New Grain Market in Sangrur on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Farmers’ Income Commission sought
Prisoner attacks Sangrur Jail Superintendent
25,000 tonnes wheat left to rot in the open
14 yrs on, High Court grants relief to judge
Suicide pact: Boy, girl found dead in Ludhiana
45-yr-old dies in police custody
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Pacify Amritsar MP, CM tells Shanta Kumar
Chandigarh, September 16 Sidhu has been attacking the government for dumping some of his pet development projects in Amritsar. Not willing to make any compromise on the development of the holy city, Sidhu has been alleging that deliberate attempts were being made to marginalise him politically. Speaking to The Tribune on the phone, Shanta Kumar said that he had asked BJP Punjab president Kamal Sharma to contact Sidhu. He said he had wanted to talk to Sidhu on the issue in detail and address his grievances. “I have also asked Sidhu to meet me in Delhi later this week,” said Shanta Kumar. Besides taking on certain senior Akali leaders, who he feels have been working overtime to sideline him, Sidhu appears to be trying to settle scores with certain leaders within his own party. He has received information that certain senior BJP leaders in Amritsar had been working with Akali leaders to scuttle his projects and ultimately marginalise him politically. Sidhu, who has been away from his constituency for over a year, has been training his guns at the state government over sitting on development projects worth several crore rupees.
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HC notice to state on drug menace
Chandigarh, September 16 In his letter, the retired IPS officer had asserted: “A number of well known politicians of various political parties have also joined the select band of top rung drug smugglers. With the increasing cost of running electoral campaigns, individual contenders and political parties are getting increasingly dependent on drug money. “Whereas drugs and narcotics are being used by political parties with impunity to woo the voters, politicians are increasingly using the drug money for electoral gains. This is the era of ‘narco politics’. He also claimed regular mandis existed in the state for the sale of narcotics, psychotropic substances, and synthetic drugs; and the world knew about it. “One in three college students are addicts, and up to 75 per cent of the population has been exposed to drugs in one form or another. More than 60 per cent of schoolgoing children have consumed drugs at one point of time or another,” he said. Quoting Punjab Government’s affidavit submitted before the High Court, he said it stated that 67 per cent rural households had at least one addict in the family. “A study of June 2011 that is available on the internet, pegs the drug addiction to more than 70 per cent. Agreeably there can be some difference in the percentages given by one report or another, but the fact remains that even the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime considers that there is a high prevalence of both drugs and AIDs in Punjab…,” Taking up the matter, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih issued notice to the State of Punjab for October 23.
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CM’s pictures on ambulances to cost state exchequer
Rs 36 cr
Chandigarh, September 16 Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office told The Tribune that the only outcome of the decision, which had political overtones considering that the state had an opposition party in power (SAD-BJP), was that the state will have
to change the component cost of each scheme run under the NRHM. “However, we will write to the Government of India, questioning this decision to withhold money for the welfare of the people, because of political considerations,” said a senior official. “When the state government decided not to remove the photographs of the Chief Minister, it was decided that the state could change the various components under which it gets money from the Centre under NHRM. This means that the total money that the state will get under the scheme will remain the same. The state will get its full funding of Rs 474 crore from the Centre under NHRM and Rs 80 crore under the Urban Health Mission. Since the Project Implementation Plan (PIP) has already been approved by the Government of India at the beginning of the financial year, we can change the components under which we get money at any time,” said a senior Health Department official. So while the state will bear the cost of running the 240 odd ambulances from its own kitty, it will now get more money for other components like Maternal and Child Health, Reproductive and Child Health, Mission Flexi pool and additionalities. The cost of running an ambulance is Rs 1.25 lakh per ambulance per month or Rs 36 crore per annum, which Punjab will bear on its own and this is likely to be borne from the money state has to give as its component cost in centrally sponsored schemes, since these schemes will now get more money under
NHRM.
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Dengue scare: Dependence on Mac-Elisa test raises hackles
Patiala, September 16 Going by the official number in Patiala district, only five confirmed cases of dengue have been traced so far as the state government regards someone who is diagnosed positive as NS1 Elisa as only a suspect and confirms such a case to be dengue positive only when the patients tests positive in Mac-Elisa test. Meanwhile, data from various private hospitals suggests that there are about 10 to 15 patients visiting city hospitals every day whose NS1 tests are positive and their blood count is very low. This situation has left the patients in a fix and had even drawn flak from the city doctors who are of the view that NS1 tests are equally accurate in ascertaining the disease. A senior doctor at Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital said anyone who is positive for NS1 Elisa is confirmed to be infected by dengue. “NS1 Elisa is an antigen test, which detects dengue virus in the initial days of infection with over 99 per cent accuracy. On the other hand, in Mac-Elisa test, the antibodies formed by dengue viruses are diagnosed only after five to nine days of infection. Most of the times, the patients get suspicious during this weather and get the NS1 test done in the very beginning; they reach the hospital if the report is positive. If the hospital gets their Mac-Elisa test done as soon as they come to the hospital, its report is bound to be negative since this test is effective only after a few days. So, that doesn’t mean the patient doesn’t have dengue,”
he rued. Dr Kuldeep Singh of Gobind Hospital in Tripri says she had referred four cases at Rajindra Hospital yesterday whose NS1 report was positive and three cases have been found positive today. “How can we simply ignore these tests? Though the line of treatment is the same in case the platelet count goes down, one cannot really ignore the fact that once their NS1 test is positive, they are infected," he said. Aparajita Paul, a student of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, had died at Columbia Asian Hospital on Friday after she was admitted there with high fever. The tests done by the hospital confirmed that she had dengue and she was being given platelets but her condition did not improve and she breathed her last. However, her Mac-Elisa test was done at Rajindra Hospital which turned out to be negative and therefore, the health authorities denied she had dengue. Meanwhile, Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Virinder Singh Mohi and Medical Superintendent of the Rajindra Hospital Dr VK Sharda defended the government’s way of calculating the number of infected patients. “NS1 Elisa is an antigen test and it detects the presence of virus, which may or may not be dengue. It's only after the antibodies test that we can actually ascertain as to whether a patient has actually developed the disease,” they added.
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8 dengue cases in Mandi Gobindgarh
Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 16 A total of 11 suspected dengue cases were reported from the steel town of Mandi Gobindgarh and its vicinity. Three of these cases were found to be negative. Confirming the figures, Civil Surgeon Neelam Bhardwaj said a team of health officials and sanitary inspectors have been deployed in the affected area and they are surveying the area. She said four areas in the town have been surveyed and further survey in the three remaining areas would be completed soon. She said the department had been able to control the disease as compared to last year as awareness camps had been organised by putting up advertisements and banners at prominent places to create awareness about dengue and malaria among the masses. Bhardwaj said blood samples of the suspected dengue patients had been sent to testing centres at SSH Ludhiana and Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital Banur. She further said the civil hospital had now been equipped with Elisa machine for testing of blood samples of suspected dengue patients and the same would start functioning soon. — TNS
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Sidhu adamant, says Deputy CM can’t pass the buck
Talking to The Tribune, Sidhu said: "I would like to tell the Deputy CM that he ignored Amritsar, the spiritual capital of Sikhs, which was a huge political as well as religious blunder on his part." He said the Deputy CM could not simply pass the buck by saying that the local bodies ministry was with the BJP. "Before dubbing it as an internal matter of the BJP, Sukhbir should have glanced at the facts. When Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal heads the Amritsar Development Authority and he himself rushes to Amritsar to inaugurate every development project, including the latest projects worth Rs 2,000 crore where he ignored to involve me, how come it is an internal matter of the BJP? Sukhbir's name is engraved on foundation stones of all development works in the city," he said. He said it was a known fact that Sukhbir was the brain behind each key project in major cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala. "Now, when issue cropped up for the justifiable rights of Amritsar, he is passing the buck," he said. Responding to Sukhbir's invitation for talks, Sidhu said: "I am grateful to him for the move. But, the need for special invitation arose because he ignored me on each issue of Amritsar. Ask the Deputy Commissioner why I am not invited to the monthly meetings of the district planning committee? Why I am not allowed to deliver speech when he invites PM to Amritsar on important occasions? Why there is a breach of only my privilege every time when a foreign dignitary visits Amritsar?" Sidhu said: "There are only two issues. First, identify those responsible for diversion of funds from Amritsar and bring them to book, irrespective of their party affiliations, and second, start the projects with the Improvement Trust funds. Instead of making the matters worse that might harm the coalition dharma, I request the Deputy CM to do justice with
Amritsar."
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forest land grab
Mohali, September 16 SDM Inderjit Kaur Kang, who finished her inquiry in the matter, said she had recommended addition of names of four patwaris, Jagdish, Satpal, Parminder and Dalwinder, one forest guard, Karnail Singh and four kanungos in the FIR, registered under Sections 420, 465, 467, 471, 120 B of IPC against Shivdayal and others. “The nine officials in question are under the scanner and it's now the police's job to check their role,” said Kang, who has also submitted the report to Mohali DC Tejinder Pal Singh
Sidhu. Meanwhile, the Mohali police has also constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case further. Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said this being a sensitive case, he had constituted the SIT being headed by SP Anil Sharma. “The other two members of the team are Inspector Tarlochan Singh and Inspector Raghuvir Singh," said
Bhullar. Inspector Tarlochan Singh is also Station House Officer of Zirakpur police station. Mohali DC Sidhu said he had asked the investigative agencies to deal with the case on priority. Notably, A chunk of 337.19 bighas forest land worth Rs 1,264 crores at Pir Muchalla was fraudulently transferred in the name of Shivdayal by tampering with the old ‘jamabandis’ and other related land documents in 2010. Mystery continues to shroud Shivdayal's identity. The fraud came to light when the forest department had obtained the 'fard' for the land - the total area included 1,871 bighas, this year - and the officials were shocked to find that a chunk of 337.19 bighas land was transferred to Shivdayal. Investigation by the District Revenue Officer revealed substantial tampering with the fard documents since 1952. There have been instances of pages having been replaced, signatures not tallying, overwriting and variations in ink. the latest *
Addition of the names of four patwaris, Jagdish, Satpal, Parminder and Dalwinder, one forest guard, Karnail Singh and four kanungos in the FIR, registered under Sections 420, 465, 467, 471, 120 B of IPC against Shivdayal and others has been recommended *
Meanwhile, the Mohali police has also constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case further
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Industrialists not paid
Rs 300 cr VAT refunds
Patiala, September 16 Sources in the Taxation Department, however, said three to five cases had been tracked, wherein manufacturers had claimed bogus tax and pocketed several crore rupees. The industrialists, on the other hand, said they should have been refunded the amount immediately. They said they were not involved in any such scam and that the Taxation Department was just trying to buy time on one pretext or the other since the government was running short of funds. In April 2013, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had claimed that industrialists would be divided in three categories (A, B and C) according to their track record. Those in the A category would be eligible for automatic fast track refund of VAT since they would have an excellent record. Subsequently, those in B category would be refunded their taxes in the minimum possible time while those in the C category would have to wait for some time. A source said in the last fiscal, the department collected Rs 15,000 crore in tax and refunded Rs 600 crore. “Therefore there is no reason why we would not refund the industrialists this year. We are working to reduce the delays as much as possible,” said a senior official requesting anonymity. Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner Anurag Verma said the refunds had been delayed due to the investigation into the bogus claims. “I assure you the pending VAT refunds would be released within two months,” he added.
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Dera chief’s kin Jassi eyeing
Cong LS ticket from Bathinda
Bathinda, September 16 Among them is Harminder Jassi, whose daughter is married to the son of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh. He is banking on the support of dera followers, who constitute nearly two lakh of 12 lakh voters in the constituency. He recently held a meeting of sitting and former MLAs of the region. He has been holding "nukkad" meetings for the past few days. Jassi has never contested a parliamentary election. The Congress had fielded an outsider in most of the elections. In the last election, Raninder Singh, son of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh contested the seat which he had lost to Harsirmat Kaur Badal. Though Jassi had lost the assembly elections to Akali leader Sarup Chand Singla, sources close to him feel that he has a better chance to win the Bathinda seat mainly because of the dera support. Usually, the dera votes are polled en masse in favour of one candidate but poll analysts are unsure owing to the fact that Jassi had lost the last assembly elections. They say Jassi has to garner the support of local Congress leaders if he has to make his claim stronger. It also remains to be seen if Jassi gets the support of PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa, who may opt for seat adjustments with other parties. The Bathinda parliamentary seat has evoked much interest due to its high profile candidates. At least three survey teams recently met local journalists and voters, seeking their opinion on whether the sitting MP will win the seat or the Congress will be able to pose a stiff challenge. The poll survey teams are also analysing if the voters will vote for Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections due next year. Though it is early days yet, the activities of the leaders clamouring for a ticket and the poll surveys have started building up the buzz for the elections.
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Storm damages paddy in border belt
Amritsar, September 16 Gurnam Singh, a farmer from Umarpura village, is shattered. Talking to The Tribune, he said his entire paddy cropm spread over nine acresm had been destroyed. “I had put in so much money on paddy,” he lamented, wondering how he would repay his bank loan. He claimed that thousands of acres of paddy had been ruined by the storm. Amritsar Chief Agriculture Officer Dilbagh Singh Dhanju said that they had received reports on paddy fields having been flattened from different parts of the district. Though they were yet to compile a data on the crop loss, rough estimates suggested a loss of at least 2 per cent. However, Jamhuri Kisan Sabha leader Rattan Singh Randhawa claimed that the loss could be between 15 per cent and 20 per cent. He said paddy varieties like Sharbati and Basmati were the worst-hit. Gurdaspur Chief Agriculture Officer Dr RK Sabharwal said the strong winds led to lodging of the paddy crop, particularly in case of the early varieties that were nearing maturity. He said this was bound to affect paddy yield as well as quality. “It will cause discolouration, thereby adversely affecting its quality,” he explained. He put the crop loss in the district at up to 4 per cent. Tarn Taran Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Sukhdev Singh Sandhu said the damage wasn’t much in the district with reports of lodging of crop coming only from a few pockets of Khadur Sahib and Chohla Sahib. The loss in the district would not be much in terms of yield, only quality,
he added. Losses not much in Bathinda district Bathinda: The paddy and cotton crops suffered no significant damage in the storm that struck on Sunday evening. District Agriculture Officer Rajinder Singh said only those fields that were watered recently may have been damaged. There was some loss to paddy in Faridkot areas such as Bander Jatana, Fidde, Chak Kalyan and Dhimawali. The storm flattened paddy in certain low-lying areas. — Jupinderjit Singh
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PSPCL loss Rs 3.76 crore
Jalandhar, September 16 The damage to the transmission network has been immense. It will take a few days to ascertain the loss. A total of 4,933 electricity poles and 769 transformers have been damaged and 940 feeders (11 KV transmission lines) have developed snags. There was no power in several districts till today afternoon. In Jalandhar, Amritsar, Nawanshahr and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, power supply that was partially restored by midnight went off again in the
morning. KD Chaudhri, PSPCL Chief Managing-Director (CMD), said corporation officials were on the job. Owing to load shedding, all hydro generation units had to be shut, he explained. “Four thermal units of Ropar, three of Bathinda and two of Lehra Mohabbat were shut down on account of low demand. However, a thermal unit each at Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar will be operational soon," Director (Generation) GS Chhabra said. The maximum damage has been in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur and the minimum in Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Mansa, Moga. The damage in Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib has not been much. The damage in Mohali, Ropar, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahar and Hoshiarpur has been considerable.
* Minimum damage in Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Mansa, Moga *
Considerable damage in Mohali, Ropar, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahar and Hoshiarpur areas *
Negligible damage in Ludhiana and
Fatehgarh Sahib * Power supply restored to several parts in the state only by Monday afternoon
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Central team member Samra questions cost of laying drains
Chandigarh/Muktsar, September 16 In Punjab, the cost of laying drains is almost three times higher than in Haryana. Chief Executive Officer of the National Rainfed Area Authority Dr JS Samra has written a letter in this regard to the Punjab Government. “I had pointed out the cost factor at a meeting of the Planning Commission where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and senior officials of the state government and the Planning Commission were present,” said Dr Samra. The latter was part of a team that visited the Muktsar belt last week to find out the reasons behind the persistent waterlogging in the area. Dr Samra pointed out that the cost of the sub-surface drainage system in Haryana was Rs 60,000 per hectare whereas it was close to Rs 1.70 lakh per hectare in South- West Punjab that comprised the waterlogged Muktsar-Abohar areas. He said that he had been told by the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute in Karnal that Punjab was laying the underground pipes at a slope higher than that in Haryana. And this was resulting in "higher costs and exaggerated investment,” explained Dr Samra in his letter to the government. Sources claimed that the cost of laying drains had exceeded than that mentioned by Dr Samra to Rs 3 lakh per hectare. In the recent past, several committees, including Dr Mihir Shah Committee and Dr Samra Committee, and officials of the Central Ground Water Board have visited the state's waterlogged areas and submitted their reports to the state government. However, the problem remains unresolved. Sources said that during the past 16 years (since 1997), a sum of about Rs 1,000 crore had been spent and loans raised from NABARD to tackle the problem, but in vain. New drains had been laid but these had been found with faulty alignment and were proving counterproductive. “This is a case of inappropriate use of funds and should be subjected to a high-level probe,” said a senior official. Former Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Department GS Dhillon blamed poor planning for persistent waterlogging in Muktsar. He said about 125 draglines were purchased spending crores of rupees to dig drains some years ago. “If you are unable to solve the problem of waterlogging even after spending several hundred crores, it means there is something seriously wrong with the government machinery handling the task," claimed Dhillon. There are about 80 drains in Muktsar, Abohar and adjoining area. In Muktsar, about 80,000 hectares is affected by waterlogging. In all, more than 2 lakh hectares are affected by the problem. Most of the 2 lakh affected farmers have quit farming and are doing labour. In certain villages, there has not been a single crop in the past 10 years. The state government has now sought Rs 961 crore from the Central Government to deal with the problem. But first it should be inquired as to why the measures taken earlier have proved ineffective. The Mihir Shah committee in its report had mentioned a road map to deal with the problem.
Waterlogging bane
* The cost of sub-surface drainage system in Haryana is Rs 60,000 per hectare whereas in Punjab it is close to Rs 1.70 lakh per hectare *
Since 1997, a sum of about Rs 1,000 crore
has been spent and loans raised from NABARD to tackle waterlogging, but in vain *
New drains have been laid but these have been found faulty * There are about 80 drains in Muktsar, Abohar and adjoining area *
The state government has now sought Rs 961 crore from the Central Government to deal with the problem
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Books scam
Chandigarh, September 16 The commission is looking into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of books for primary and upper primary school libraries, science kits and supply of map masters in government schools. The three-month tenure of the commission, constituted by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal after the Opposition trained guns at Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka for the scams, ended last month. Justice Jindal said there had been no official communication on extending the commission tenure. “However, there remains a lot to be done,” he said. It may be mentioned that another probe panel instituted by the Central Government into the alleged irregularities had found the state government guilty of misappropriating central funds allotted under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Reliable sources said a plea for extending the Jindal panel tenure had been sent to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal , who holds the Home portfolio. However, a senior official “denied receiving any official communication in this regard.” Justice Jindal said the commission was looking into all allegations “based on official records to establish the case.”
Glaring lacunae
* The state govt denies having shortlisted an Ambala firm for supplying science kits to schools *
But the Education Department did issue instructions to schools to pick up science kits from specific locations in the state. *
Schools were sent an official communication asking them to provide their students with maps from a specific publisher *
Substandard library books were supplied to school libraries by a dealer who originally dealt in making tin products
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Compensation, jobs sought for kin of farmers driven to suicide
Sangrur, September 16 Earlier, they took out a protest march from the New Grain Market to the DAC here, raising slogans in support of their demands. The activists and members of BKU (Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union were demanding Rs 2 lakh compensation and a government job to each family of the debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers who committed suicide. They were also demanding inclusion of left-out families of the deceased debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers in the lists prepared earlier by the government, for provision of compensation and government jobs. Women whose family members committed suicide due to debt burden in the past years, today also participated in the rally held at New Grain Market and the dharna outside the District Administrative Complex here, carrying photographs of the deceased debt-ridden farmers and labourers. Dilbag Singh Harigarh, a leader of the BKU (Ugrahan), said the state government had already accepted that it would give Rs 2 lakh as compensation and a government job each to the families of debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers who had committed suicide. But the government had not fulfilled its promise in letter and spirit so far, he added. There was an appeal for writing off of loans.
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Farmers’ Income Commission sought
Sangrur, September 16 Arrangements should be made to increase their income on the pattern of dearness allowance for the employees. President of the BKU (Rajewal) Balbir Singh Rajewal today said the Union Government should also raise Social Security Fund for the farmers to pay them the difference between the amount earned by them, and the amount prescribed as income by Farmers' Income Commission for the farmers. — TNS
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Prisoner attacks Sangrur Jail Superintendent
Sangrur, September 16 He was reportedly rescued by the jail staff from the prisoner. Sangrur SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said the prisoner had been identified as Harwinder Singh, son of Charan Singh, a resident of Ratoke village in Tarn Taran district. He said medical examination of the jail superintendent would be conducted. He further said investigations into the attack on the jail superintendent were on as it was a serious matter. The Jail Superintendent Jagwant Kumar Sharma said he, along with the staff of the jail, had been searching the wards in the jail. When he started searching ward number 7, a prisoner suddenly attacked him and tore his shirt. When his staff tried to intervene, he tore their uniform too. He was somehow controlled.
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25,000 tonnes wheat left to rot in the open
Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 16 This is not the first such instance. Earlier, wheat stocks worth several crores had also rotten due to shortage of godown in Khamano block. Residents of the villages have demanded that the rotten wheat be removed from the area as the bags have started giving out a foul smell. They said they had also met the manager for removal of these bags, adding that the government was in the process of auctioning of these bags which was likely to be mixed with good-quality wheat. Ashok Kumar, District Manager, Punjab Agro, said the department had conducted investigation after the tendering process was completed. He said some stock was found rotten in the inquiry and steps would be taken to remove these before auctioning of the stock. He said stock would be removed soon once the auctioning process was completed. He said the main reason for this was slow movement of wheat from Punjab by the Centre and added that there were no proper arrangements for proper storage of foodgrain in the area which had witnessed bumper crop yield during the past few years.
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Youth found dead; SHO suspended
Moga, September 16 Local residents had been protesting against alleged police inaction in the case since Friday. After the recovery of the body today, the victim's family members, relatives and locals intensified their protest. They kept the body at the main square of the town and raised slogans against the state government and the local police. The protest continued for more than six
hours. KJS Dhillon, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP); Dilbagh Singh
Pannu, Superintendent of Police; and Ajmer Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner; reached the spot to pacify the agitators who were seeking action against Rashpal Singh, Station House Office of the Kot-ise-Khan police station, for failing to take a timely action in the case. The SSP said he had suspended the SHO with immediate effect and a departmental inquiry had also been ordered against him. Earlier, the victim's family had alleged that they had an altercation with their tenant a few days ago and that she had threatened to kill their son. The SSP said the police had summoned the accused woman and investigations were in progress. Meanwhile, no injury mark was found on the body of the youth. The doctors who conducted the post-mortem said drowning could be the cause of the death.
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Now, HC told Moga MLA Jain has not quit as corp chairman
Chandigarh, September 16 As a petition filed in public interest against his appointment as corporation head came up for resumed hearing before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih. Aggarwal said: “It is in my pocket. It is always in my pocket, as I do not want a public man to face the ignominy of an adverse order from the High Court.” Taking up the matter, the Bench retained for perusal the file regarding Jain’s appointment.The claim by the Advocate-General came in response to a query by Chief Justice Kaul on the status of Jain’s resignation. The government also communicated its decision to retain Jain as the corporation chief despite his conviction for carrying a passport in somebody else’s name. Aggarwal produced before the High Court an order dated September 13, passed by the Financial Commissioner, Development, stating that “having considered the material before the government with regard to the criminal cases lodged/pending/decided against Joginder Pal Jain, the state government allows the continuation of Jain as Director, State Warehousing Corporation, and also as Chairman of the State Warehousing The order categorically stated that despite his conviction in 1992 and framing of charges against him by the court recently under various Sections of the “Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1955, Jain is eligible for appointment as Chairman. Reacting to the order, petitioner HC Arora pointed out that a person to be appointed as chairman was first required to be appointed as director under the statute. He also produced before the court a copy of the order issued by the Punjab Chief Minister on December 27, 2012, directing the Financial Commissioner, Development, GS Sandhu, that “Joginder Pal Jain, resident of Moga, is appointed as Chairman of Punjab Warehousing Corporation”, and that a “formal order in this regard be issued immediately.” The Bench took the document, obtained by the petitioner under the RTI Act, on record. The Bench also took in its custody the complete file pertaining to the impugned appointment.
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14 yrs on, High Court grants relief to judge
Chandigarh, September 16 Judicial officer OP Garg had joined Punjab Civil Service (Judicial Branch) in 1972; and was promoted as Additional District and Sessions Judge in July 1993. In his case, the option for re-fixation of pay was required to be given within a month from promotion. Since he exercised the option after the expiry of last date, his claim was turned down. The State of Punjab and other respondents claimed his claim for re-fixation of pay was not justified. The state further claimed that amendment in relevant rules, prescribing a period of one month from promotion, was brought to the notice of all District and Sessions Judge vide letter dated May 15, 1990. As such, his assertion of being unaware of the prescribed period was not sustainable. The petition, filed in 1999, is just one of the 2 lakh cases pending before the High Court; and it is suspected that many of the petitioners are no more there to pursue their grievances. When some of these cases are suddenly listed, the counsels are often
at a loss in the absence of complete records or instructions. Attribute it to the shortage of judges, or filing of frivolous petitions, the fact remains that the delay also tends to change the course of the outcome. The High Court, as of now, has a shortage of 21 judges. It has 47 judges against the sanctioned strength of 68. Taking up the matter, the Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Fateh Deep Singh asserted: “In the present case, the amendment in the rules was carried out on May 15, 1990. The circular issued on the date is said to have been sent to all the District and Sessions Judges. “The petitioner was promoted three years later, on July 30, 1993. There was no occasion for him even to consider the exercise of option for re-fixation of salary in the year 1990, when the alleged circular was issued. There is no assertion that there was any communication to the petitioner to exercise option soon after his promotion…. “We find that in the absence of condition to opt not known to the petitioner, he cannot be denied the benefit of pay fixation in terms of the condition of the notification amending rules”. Allowing the petition,
the Bench directed the respondents to fix pay “in terms of option submitted considering the same to be within time and pay the arrears of salary within three months….”
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Suicide pact: Boy, girl found dead in Ludhiana
Ludhiana, September 16 While a suicide note was found from Ramandeep’s body, it could not be ascertained whether Gurkaran too had done the same. Both the families, however, claimed both had committed suicide by hanging themselves. Investigating Officer Ashwani Kumar said he found a suicide note from Ramandeep’s pocket. The bodies had been taken to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. Kumar said the two families had close ties with each other. “We have recorded the statements of both the families and are awaiting the postmortem reports. We will investigate the matter further,” said Kumar. Sources said Ramandeep and Gurkaran were good friends and visited each others’ houses often. The incident came to light this afternoon when Gurkaran's mother found her daughter's body hanging from a ceiling fan. While at the same time, Ramandeep’s body was also found in similar circumstances. Gurkaran was the only sister of three brothers. She was studying in Class XII. Her uncle said Gurkaran could have committed suicide since she was suffering from a prolonged kidney problem. Ramandeep had recently taken up a job at a private firm after leaving studies. Sources said Ramandeep had committed suicide soon after he found out that Gurkaran had ended her life. Gurdev Singh, the boy’s father and Kuldeep Singh, the girl’s father, were seen grieving at the Civil Hospital. Mourning residents
of the village refused to divulge any details on the matter.
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45-yr-old dies in police custody
Patiala, September 16 The victim has been identified as Sushil Kumar, who was rounded up by the police in a theft case on Sunday. Wife of the victim Radha Rani alleged that a police team of Crime Investigating Agency (CIA) and Kotwali Police had picked up her husband on Friday from their house on the pretext that his name had cropped up in a theft case. “They took away my husband and later we were not allowed to meet him for two days, and our pleas to the Kotwali police turned futile while the CIA officers said they do not allow anyone inside,” she alleged. Sources said Sushil Kumar died in alleged police custody after being allegedly tortured by the police in the theft case and he died late Sunday late night, following which the panicky police teams rushed him to Government Rajindra Hospital in the wee hours on Monday. “The victim was rushed around 2.50 am in the wee hours but the condition of his body shows he had died a few hours before being brought to the hospital,” they added. The police failed to inform the family members of the death. They were apprised about it only in the morning here today, following which, relatives and friends of the victim held a dharna and raised slogans against the police. SSP Patiala Hardyal Singh Mann stated a magisterial probe had been ordered. When questioned if the policemen under the scanner would be shifted for an impartial probe, Mann said that he did not feel the police is at fault in the case. “We will wait for the probe report,” he stated. As to why the victim reached the hospital late, Mann said since the victim was first taken to some other hospital nearby, there was some delay.
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The state’s funding from National Rural Health Mission will not be impacted with the decision of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to stop funds for the free referral transport system, after the state refused to remove the pictures of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, from the 240 ambulances being run under the scheme.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office told The Tribune that the only outcome of the decision, which had political overtones considering that the state had an opposition party in power (SAD-BJP), was that the state will have
to change the component cost of each scheme run under the NRHM.
While the health department and Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, are depending only on the Government of India approved Mac-Elisa test to confirm whether a person has dengue or not despite admitting about 10 to 12 suspected cases of dengue every day in Rajindra Hospital alone, city hospitals are flooded with patients who have been declared positive for dengue by various private laboratories and hospitals on the basis of NS1 Elisa test or card test.
The storm that lashed the region last evening has taken a toll on the paddy crop in Amritsar and neighbouring districts with reports of lodging of crop received from several places.
Gurnam Singh, a farmer from Umarpura village, is shattered. Talking to The Tribune, he said his entire paddy cropm spread over nine acresm had been destroyed. “I had put in so much money on paddy,” he lamented, wondering how he would repay his bank loan.
Under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), a large number of farmers and labourers along with families of debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers who committed suicide in the past many years today held a protest dharna for about three hours outside the District Administrative Complex
(DAC) here.
Amritsar, September 16
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Maximum damage in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts
The state procuring agency Punjab Agro had stacked the wheat bags in open grounds in villages Dera Mir Meera and Saddo Majra. The wheat had been procured in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The worn-out tarpaulins had failed to protect the wheat bags from high-velocity hot winds and heavy rains, resulting in the wheat grain becoming blackish.