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Chandigarh belongs to us: Badal
Risking lives in rickety boats a daily affair in Ferozepur
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Deputy CM misleading industrial houses: Bajwa
Delhi Poll
Eyeing Dalit vote, Congress to form village committees
NRI police wing gets more teeth
Sikh scholar speaks of Guru’s peace message at Vatican
No gypsum import via ICP from today
Post of MD, Water Supply Board, goes
Extra classes sans adequate staff of no use: Teachers
Plot holders’ union to observe ‘black day’ today
Luxury tractors make inroads into state
Jails jam-packed, infirm
inmates may be set free
Amritsar temple warned against
raising memorial
Stubble burning: Govt to act tough on violators
Heroin worth Rs 85 cr seized
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Chandigarh belongs to us: Badal
Moga, October 6 Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Saturday, Hooda had reiterated Haryana’s claim on Chandigarh, the joint state capital that has been a bone of contention between the two states for the past several decades. Sharpening his attack on Hooda, Badal said, “Tomorrow, Hooda can even stake claim over the entire country, but will this demand be fulfilled? As Punjab is the parent state out of which Haryana was carved out, the former’s claim over Chandigarh is justified. Therefore, it’s needless on Hooda’s part to rake up this issue in the run up to the Lok Sabha as well as Haryana assembly elections.” Badal was in the city today to address a meeting of MPs, MLAs, former MLAs, zila parishad members and other public representatives of Moga, Faridkot and Ferozepur districts and pay obeisance at Nanaksar Thath in Samadh Bhai village of the district. During the meeting, he exhorted the public representatives to bring a large number of people for the state-level function being organised to lay the foundation stone of a historical monument-cum-temple at Valmiki Ashram at Ram Tirath near Amritsar. The fnction is to be held on October 18 on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti. “We have built a state-of-the-art Virasat-e-Khalsa memorial at Anandpur Sahib, memorials of big and small holocausts at Kup Rahiran and Kahnuwan and Banda Singh Bahadur war memorial at Chapparchiri village. Besides, the memorials of Bhagwan Parshu Ram, Baba Jiwan Singh, Baba Moti Ram Mehra and Swami Vivekanand are being constructed at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Anandpur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib and Amritsar,” he said.
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Risking lives in rickety boats a daily affair in Ferozepur
Ferozepur, October 6 In several villages, including Dona Matar, Jalloke, Chandiwala, Dona Telu Mal, Gandhu Khilchia, Kaluwala, Nihalewala, Kamalewala, Gatti Rahimke and Muthianwali, these wobbly “beras” remain the only mode of public transportation. In 2005, at least 15 farmers of Kamalewala village were killed when their boat capsized near Muthianwali. In 2009, three persons were drowned near Gatti Harike. Notwithstanding these tragedies, the state government has done little to ensure the safety of border residents. At least 50 tractors are daily transported across the Sutlej on these “beras” during the sowing season. However, because of the long queue, the tractors reach the fields past noon, severely hampering work. “Those owning harvesting combines take advantage of poor farmers. They double the charges at about Rs 2,000 per acre,” said Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, a farmer. Harnek Singh and Kartar Singh of Jalloke village said they had to borrow a “bera” from nearby Tindiwala village to transport a tractor across the Sutlej for which they had to pay Rs 2,000. Kartar said they had requested the district administration to provide a new “bera” for their village. Farmer Swaran Singh said there was a dire need to construct a bridge near DT Mal. He claimed that Union Minister P Chibambaram, during his visit here a few years back, had promised to sanction a bridge but no action was taken thereafter. Neither any official or department keeps a check on the safety standards of these “beras”. Nor is any training provided to operate these. A PWD official, when approached, admitted that no inspection of the “beras” had been undertaken, some of which had been provided by the state government. Manjit Singh Narang, Deputy Commissioner (DC) said he had written to the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, to sanction special funds for new “beras”. He said the the state government had sanctioned Rs 12 lakh in January last year for purchasing three “beras”but these were damaged in subsequent floods. No lesson learnt
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Deputy CM misleading industrial houses: Bajwa
Amritsar, October 6 Addressing a meeting of Congress workers during the second phase of the party’s mass contact programme here, Bajwa said Sukhbir was doing no service to Punjab by lying to industrial houses and was rather earning a bad name for the state. He said the Deputy CM’s presentation to IT companies in Bangalore last week was “misleading and far from the ground reality”. He claimed that Punjab had already missed the “Seven years have passed since the formation of the SAD-BJP Government but no industrial policy has been notified so far. States like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have taken a lead in IT revolution,” he said. Bajwa said two companies had come to Punjab during the previous Congress government. While one had closed down operations, the other was planning to do so. On the state government’s claims on engagement with the Tata Group, Bajwa said: “After meeting Tata Group head Cyrus Mistry, the Deputy CM unilaterally announced that the company would invest in Punjab.The Tata Group has only come to say ‘tata’ to Punjab.” He said Sukhbir had made a similar claim in July after a meeting with Tata Motors vice-chairman Ravi Kant and even named projects. “No industry can come up in Punjab without accepting the untenable demands of the ruling family,” Bajwa alleged. He said the Global Investment Summit proposed to be held in Mohali would be yet another futile exercise. The SAD-BJP government had held two NRI sammelans in the past, but not one NRI had invested in Punjab because of corruption, poor law and order and unworthy roads. Bajwa alleged that illegal colonies in Punjab had been raised by Akali and BJP leaders during the past seven years. “ Now the people are being made to pay for regularising these.” He asked the people not to pay any charges to get their colonies regularised. OP Soni, PPCC vice-president, and Fatehjung Singh Bajwa, general secretary, were among those present on the occasion. On the government's proposal to rope in film stars as Punjab's ambassadors, Bajwa said there was no dearth of people in the state who had earned a name for themselves in their respective fields. He declined comment on former Union minister Ashwani Kumar 'cold-shouldering' Congress leaders at a function in Gurdaspur on Saturday.
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Delhi Poll
Chandigarh, October 6 The SAD is keen to contest the Delhi elections on its own symbol. The sources said that the BJP top brass, including LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Vijay Goel, would decide on the allocation of seats to the SAD at a dinner meeting scheduled for October 8. Prior to that, in charge of BJP’s election campaign Nitin Gadkari and co-in charge Navjot Singh Sidhu will hold an informal meeting in Delhi to discuss poll-related issues. In charge of SAD affairs in Delhi BS Ramoowalia said: “It is decided that the SAD and the BJP will jointly contest the Delhi elections. Senior leaders of both the parties will meet soon to decide on the allocation of constituencies.” The SAD leadership is reportedly asking for constituencies with a sizeable Punjabi electorate such as Rajouri Garden and Tilak Nagar. But the BJP is not keen to allot these seats to the SAD. The BJP intends to extensively use the Narendra Modi factor in the Delhi elections. Modi wants the BJP to focus on young voters, especially college and university students. A special team comprising Amit Shah and Navjot Sidhu has been asked to prepare a strategy in this regard. Modi has held lengthy meetings with Shah and Sidhu in this regard.
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Eyeing Dalit vote, Congress to form village committees
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 6 Vice-president of the District Congress Committee Gurdeep Singh Madan said the 21-member committees in 150 villages out of the total 450 had already been constituted. He said the work of forming member committees in villages and major towns of the district would be completed before the Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, an 11-member women committee would also be constituted in
each village. Madan said, “We will have to make the Dalit community aware of its rights. Only then we will be able to stop the atrocities being committed on them,” he said. Madan said the Congress had always protected the rights of the community. Slamming the state government for imposing fresh taxes on people, he said it had become impossible for the poor to make both
ends meet. Farmers, businessmen and employees of various government departments were fed up with the policies of the SAD-BJP government and the people would give a befitting reply to the highhandedness of the state government in the next parliamentary elections scheduled for next year, he added.
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NRI police wing gets more teeth
Bathinda, October 6 Deputy Chief Minister Suhbir Singh Badal has ordered that the NRI wing, based in Phase 7, Mohali, and headed by IG Gupreet Deo, would have a state-wide jurisdiction. The wing has been empowered to order inquiry in cases related to NRIs across the state. It has also been empowered to transfer any case to any officer it deems fit or to any NRI police station. In short, the IG has been empowered as nodal officer to handle such cases. The wing would work under the supervision of DGP Sumedh Singh Saini. The government is also in the process of setting up three more NRI police stations in Gurdaspur, Mohali and Jalandhar rural. The state already has eight such police stations. These would now work under the IG, NRI wing, instead of the SSP concerned. The NRI wing received 507 complaints in 2011; 1,200 in 2012; and 1,500 till September this year. Gurpreet Deo, IG, said the government had provided a single platform to the NRIs for the redressal of their grievances. She said those having complaints against the NRIs would also be benefited. She said she took charge of the wing in 2011 and nearly 50 per cent of the total 1,500 complaints had been disposed of. She said complaints of or against NRIs should be filed in person or via email to
nri.pbpolice@gmail.com. More powers
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Sikh scholar speaks of Guru’s peace message at Vatican
New Delhi, October 6 Back from the Vatican, Mohinder Singh, honorary director of Bhai Veer Singh Sadan, said: “It was a fascinating assembly of believers and non-believers. For the first time, the Head of the Catholic Church openly welcomed a dialogue between believers and non-believers and between faiths.” Mohinder Singh, who represented Sikhism at the conference, took part in a panel discussion on “Dialogue between Religions: A Road to Peace”. He shared the dais with Jean Pierre Delville, Bishop of Belgium; Yahya Sergis Yahe Pallabicini, Imam of Milan; and Tep Vong, patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism. “For me it was an occasion to recall the fundamental message of Guru Nanak to his followers, to listen first and sermonise later. I narrated an incident from the Guru’s life. When the Guru visited Multan, he was stopped at the city’s entry by a group of holy men who showed him a bowl full of milk, indicating that the city was full of saints and there was no place for more. “The Guru smiled back, saying he was like the jasmine petal that floats on the milk without taking any space,” Mohinder Singh said in his address at the Vatican. The Sikh scholar was part of a select group of faith leaders who had a special audience with the Pope. Among the delegates was a Holocaust survivor David Barodman and Italian journalist Antonio Ferrari, released by Syrian militants after six months in captivity. Mohinder Singh, who is also member, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, said the highlight of the event was the presence of all Cardinals across the world, whom the Pope had invited for the first time. The conference culminated in an appeal for peace in Syria followed by a procession. “The event marks a change in the attitude of the Catholic Church which had hitherto believed that all solutions lie in Christianity,” said Mohinder Singh, who presented the Pope with his book on the Golden Temple and invited him to visit the Sikh seat of worship.
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No gypsum import via ICP from today
Amritsar, October 6 Talking to The Tribune, importer Iqbal Singh Bedi said: “We are planning to import gypsum via the sea route. Though the transportation charges will be up by 10 per cent to 15 per cent, we will try to make up for these by ordering gypsum in bulk. Besides, we will get good quality gypsum. At the ICP, gypsum was being dumped in the open which was taking a toll on its quality.” Cement importers seem to have no option. MPS Chatha, president, All-India Cement Importers Association, said they were in a spot as the Railways too had hiked freight by 15 per cent from October 1. Meanwhile, dry fruit traders said they would continue with imports from Pakistan through the ICP. A spokesperson of the Confederation of International Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that in a letter to the Secretary, Border Management, they had requested that the tariff hike be deferred till the month-end and that talks be held with the trading community to resolve the issue.
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Post of MD, Water Supply Board, goes
Jalandhar, October 6 “The aim is to streamline the board’s working,” said a senior government official. The government has also made several changes in the functioning of the operation and maintenance cell of the municipal corporations of Jalandhar, Bathinda, Patiala, Ludhiana and Amritsar. The proposal to fill posts of engineering staff in the MCs has also been approved. As of now, of the 276 posts of engineers, 78 are lying vacant. “If the posts cannot be filled through departmental promotions on account of eligibility issues, these will be filled through posting engineers on deputation or by employing retired officers on a contractual basis,” according to a government notification. The government has also increased the posts of Chief Engineer from one to four.
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Extra classes sans adequate staff of no use: Teachers
Chandigarh, October 6 They argue that these classes would not serve the purpose since the same teachers take classes during school hours. Besides, there were scores of schools which did not have any science or math teacher, they said. Gurbachan Singh, president, math teachers association, claimed that students lag behind in these two subjects as at least 1,500 government schools had no mathematics and science teacher. Pawan Kumar, a mathematics teacher, said: “Special classes will have no relevance when there are no regular classes”. Besides, as per the amended norms, schools have been barred from hiring special teachers from private sources. The government schools have been told to take special classes from October 1 to December 6 out of funds released under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. A formal communication from Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary (Schools), said: “Schools should accommodate at least 10 per cent students in special classes which should be conducted at least for an hour before or after the school time. The cluster heads are expected to arrange for teachers in schools that do not have the required staff”. Gurbeer Singh, a mathematics teacher, said: “We appreciate the government’s concern for weak students. But, it is unfortunate that schools were not consulted before taking this decision. Earlier, several educated unemployed youth of villages got employment and children too had responded well to new teachers”. A school principal from the border village of Amritsar said: “It is difficult for women teachers to devote extra time. The government should call representatives of school heads as well as subject teachers to work out a better system for the implementation of remedial classes”.
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Plot holders’ union to observe ‘black day’ today
Jalandhar, October 6 Association convener Ashwani Joshi said there existed around 10,000 unapproved colonies (spread on 40,000 acres) in various parts of the state. “Instead of charging a huge amount, the state government should regularise illegal colonies as a one-time unconditional waiver on the pattern of Delhi. Subsequently, a genuine policy should be framed for colonies, which should be implemented strictly,” he said. Joshi said the waiver was a must as the successive state governments too were to be blamed for the mushrooming of illegal colonies in Punjab. Urging the plot holders not to deposit any fee for the regularisation of their property, Ashwani said, “Our future strategy will depend on the state government’s response to our protest.”
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Luxury tractors make inroads into state
Mumbai, October 6 These workhorses come equipped with four-wheel drives, air-conditioned cabins, tiltable steering and mounted on air suspension, which provides a comfortable ride to the driver. What is more, Indian and foreign manufacturers are offering to customise the machines to suit the taste of buyers. Not surprisingly, the price range of such machines is quite high. The price of some of the models begin at a whopping Rs 17 lakh. "While regular tractors cost between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, Arjun International costs Rs 17 lakh," says Sanjeev Goyle, chief of marketing farm equipment sector, Mahindra and Mahindra. He says Arjun International was the first luxury tractor to be sold in the Indian market. The company has sold as many as 40 such custom-made machines in the past few years. The buzz is that the segment is growing at nearly 50 per cent annually with big players such as Ferrari and John Deere entering the market. More than the market share, these high-end models also help burnish the image of the affordable products of the same manufacturer in the market. "It creates a strong aura for our product portfolio and simultaneously allows us to showcase our technology leadership in the segment," says Goyle. Buyers for such high-end tractors are farmers in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra who have large land holdings. "Primarily, luxury tractors are bought by farmers with large landholdings of around 75-300 acres. They already own several tractors but are looking for a more suitable product, which will set a status benchmark in their peer group. They are also looking for more sophisticated mechanisation tools, which are supported by these high-end tractors," Goyle adds. To sell these products, different marketing strategies have been adopted. Apart from a one-to-one contact with some of the most affluent farmers, direct marketing teams take these tractors to farmers' homes in a concealed van for showcasing them, adds Goyle. Incidentally, such high-end tractors are sold as regular tractors in markets such as the US. "In the US, Arjun International is sold under the Mahindra brand name," he says.
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Jails jam-packed, infirm
inmates may be set free
Patiala, October 6 The government has already asked the jail staff to prepare a list of inmates who suffer from chronic diseases or are above 80 years of age. Official sources said with the process of constructing new jails having delayed, the existing prisons are packed to capacity. Besides, the number of inmates entering the jails is more than those released. The proposal aimed at sorting out this problem so that there was no shortage of space for new inmates, they added. Jail officials said a list of inmates suffering from chronic diseases had already been submitted to the Home Department. There are a total of 192 inmates - 159 men and 33 women - suffering from serious diseases. A senior jail official said it was to be seen how the government would release these prisoners as special permission would be needed. “The government might have to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the purpose. Moreover, certain prisoners are undergoing sentence for heinous crimes,” he said. Jails Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur told The Tribune that the government wanted to speed up the process of releasing ailing and elderly prisoners. “We will monitor each case individually and only those who are in jail for petty crimes will get the benefit. Those arrested for serious crimes will not be released,” said Phillaur.
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Amritsar temple warned against
raising memorial
Amritsar, October 6 Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner, said the management had received the letter about two weeks ago. Its authenticity was yet to be ascertained. Nonetheless, security at the temple had been increased, he said Harish Taneja, temple spokesman, said a delegation led by Ram Parkash Chopra, patron, and Satpal Mahajan, president, had met the Police Commissioner urging him to augment security at the temple premises. Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, today visited the temple to reviewed the arrangements. A few months ago, the temple management had announced to construct a memorial to pay tributes to those killed during the militancy period in the state. Bluestar Memorial, in the shape of a gurdwara, has been raised in the Golden Temple complex in memory of those killed during the Army Operation.
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Stubble burning: Govt to act tough on violators
Patiala, October 6 Sources said the move to issue a notification came after farmers did not adhere to the earlier ban on the burning of stubble. On several occasions, when the deputy commissioners ordered a ban on such activities under Section 144 of the CrPc, local politicians came to the rescue of the accused farmers, they said, adding that the notification would help keep a check on the political interference. A senior official in the PPCB said stubble burning not only polluted the environment but also caused health problems. Hence, the Department of Science, Technology and Environment had taken the matter into consideration. The department had already issued a formal notice in this regard, he said. Despite guidelines from the Central Government, the PPCB has, till date, not issued a notification on the burning of paddy straw. The farmers had no option but to burn the stubble. “The Agriculture Department is now providing machines to tackle the menace at subsidised rates. This will also help farmers use the leftover as fertiliser,” said PPCB Chairperson Ravinder Singh. “Now stubble can be used for generating power and farmers should desist from burning it. They should instead look for ways to use straw and stubble,” he stated. Experts say smoke from stubble burning, if inhaled, depletes the red blood cell count and adversely affects the oxygen carrying capacity of the body. Due of stubble burning, accidents have also been reported from various parts of the state. On October 11, 2011, three children were charred when an auto-rickshaw overturned in a field near Mehta village, Amritsar, where paddy straw was being burnt. Ravinder Singh said with the notification, the board officials and other authorities would be able to file a case against the violators without any interference. “Air pollution has reached an alarming level and it is high time we take measures to stop the menace,” he added.
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Heroin worth Rs 85 cr seized
Amritsar, October 6 The contraband is estimated around Rs 85 crore in the international market. BSF Deputy Inspector General MF Farooqui said, “Around 9.35 pm on Saturday, some movement was noticed near the outpost on both sides of the border. When challenged, the smugglers opened fire. They fled after the BSF retaliated.” During a search operation in the morning, the BSF recovered 11 packets of heroin lying in a plastic pipe (being used to push the contraband through the barbed wire) and another five packets lying near the fence. Farooqui said the officials found another packet a few metres away from the spot, which the accused might have failed to take back. This year, the BSF has confiscated around 232 kg of heroin from the Punjab border. The seizure last year was 288 kg. On the arrest of two BSF constables by the police recently for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking, Farooqui said the incident was “unfortunate” and that efforts were afoot to identify black sheep, if any, in the security force.
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Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has challenged his Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda for staking claim over Chandigarh saying Punjab would never give up its demand for Chandigarh even though there was a proposal to set up New Chandigarh, another modern township.
Living on the edge, border farmers put their lives at risk everyday using rickety boats to cross the Sutlej to reach the mainland.
Partap Singh Bajwa, PPCC president, claimed today that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was making fake projections on investment opportunities in Punjab and offering a “lollipop” to industrial houses in the name of “investor-friendly” industrial policy that was announced in June but was yet to be notified.
Sikh scholar Mohinder Singh took Guru Nanak’s message of peaceful co-existence to the world stage last week. The occasion was International Prayer for Peace, a two-day congregation of representatives of different faiths to appeal for reconciliation in Syria. Attended by 350 delegates, it was hosted by the Community of Sant’Egidio and officially supported by the Head of the Roman Catholic Churchn Pope Francis.
Deciding to stop imports via the Attari border beginning tomorrow in protest against the hike in storage tariff and weighing charges at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), gypsum traders are now contemplating to shift trade to the Kandla port in Gujarat.
The Punjab Government will take a strict action against farmers indulging in stubble burning. The Punjab Pollution Control Board will issue a notification, banning the burning of stubble across the state. A public notice in this connection has already been issued.