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Legal poppy husk vends lure addicts to Rajasthan
ED identifies more than 100 hawala syndicates
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Sukhbir rejects demand for resignation of ministers
Deputy Chief Minister lays the stone of a township in Amritsar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vishal Kumar
BSNL lost 2,48,466 mobile subscribers in state in 3 yrs
Need to upgrade AIDS control infrastructure: Union MoS
BHOLA’S DRUG RING
Day after clash, tenuous peace at Faridkot village
Advance tax to stall growth: Steel industry
Family to receive Sarabjit’s belongings at Attari today
Pollution around Golden Temple to be curtailed
Sikhs to report airport abuse via smartphone app in US
Police wing to check NRIs’ credentials
Shun jeans, thwart trouble, advise saints
Subway ad with Sikh actor Ahluwalia vandalised
SSA staff warn of stepping up agitation
Officials given powers to check illegal mining
Faridkot hospital targets Pak cancer patients
Kashmir Gill is next Yuba City Mayor
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
for Jalandhar instrument maker
Now, NRI wing to help check fraud marriages
Student killed in California car crash
Frame recruitment rules in a month: HC
Case against Badal dismissed
HC stays notification on enhanced court fee
Man kills wife in Sangrur
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Legal poppy husk vends lure addicts to Rajasthan
Kandukhera (Muktsar), November 27 “Sat Sri Akal, janab. Le aava ji kujh pudiya (Hello Sir. May I bring in some packets (of poppy husk)?” the addicts’ common request to the policemen. The Tribune team, which observed the activity for some hours, found the go-ahead from the officials mostly came, though there was some delay in several cases. The vend is located only a km away from the village. But, the price of the contraband more than doubles once it enters Punjab. A visit to Rajasthan found that a tea stall along the poppy husk vend was proving a haven for addicts. A number of them could be seen there openly consuming narcotics with tea. Some inter-state buses were also spotted halting for a while. Rs
80 per 100 gm An employee at the vend said a 100-gram packet was available for Rs 80. But, the prices almost doubled to Rs 160-Rs 200 (100 gm) once it reached Punjab. On being contacted, a policeman deployed at the naka said, “As poppy husk does not have any peculiar odour, it is not an easy task to locate it during search. It is smuggled in buses or with bananas or onions in night as it is an arduous task to search a fully loaded vehicle.” Baljinder Singh, in charge of the inter-state police picket at Kandukhera, said, “The smuggling has been curbed to quite an extent after the permanent picket was set up. The recent meeting of senior police officials of the three states has also helped.” Muktsar Senior Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh said, “Joint efforts are required by the police of the three states to check the menace. He said the issue was even discussed in detail during the recently organised meeting of the policemen of three states at Badal village. At the meeting, Bikaner Inspector General of Police too had admitted that easy availability in Rajasthan was to be blamed for smuggling.
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ED identifies more than 100 hawala syndicates
Jalandhar, November 27 Sources revealed that the racket was run by big and small licenced forex exchange owners at the behest of their ‘handlers’, most of whom based in Canada. In February, ED sleuths had stumbled upon 'hawala' transactions running into over Rs 100 crore allegedly at the behest of Jeewan Kumar, owner of Jalandhar-based Happy Forex Private Limited, and his associates. While ‘hawala’ transactions by big syndicates was said to be between Rs 15,000 crore-Rs 20,000 crore per annum, those by smaller syndicates was estimated at Rs-100 crore and Rs 200 crore every year. Besides, Phagwara, Apra and Jalandhar in Doaba, Ludhiana and Jagraon in the Malwa belt have emerged as centres of the illegal trade. The ED is now investigating money-laundering operations by drug peddlers Jagdish Bhola, Raja Kandola and Anup Singh Kahlon. It has also initiated action against ‘hawala’ operators and beneficiaries by way of attaching their properties under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), said Girish Kumar Bali, Joint Director, Enforcement. Reliable sources said that businessmen importing goods from China were under the lens as a number of them were believed to have been indulging in ‘under-invoicing’. The sources said since the country's economy was in a shambles, a number of businessmen and politicians were siphoning off money through ‘hawala’ to North American and other countries and making investment there. What ‘hawala’ means *
It is the transfer of money from one country, bypassing the taxation and foreign exchange laws Modus operandi *
It involves forex exchanges, business houses and export-import firms *
Documents seized show that industrialists and exporters raise bogus invoices under the pretext of sending goods to countries like Dubai, China and Germany *
They send the money through 'hawala' channels only to get the same back as payments against exports, again through hawala operators *
The motive is to convert black money into white * They also make substantial money by claiming duty drawback incentives ranging between 8 per cent and 15 per cent on 'exports’
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Sukhbir rejects demand for resignation of ministers
Amritsar, November 27 Talking to the mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of a township, Sukhbir said the Congress was left with no issues against the state government and was thus resorting to baseless statements. He said the Congress should instead praise the government for acting tough against those involved in the drug racket irrespective of their positions. He said the recent arrests were the result of the government's intensified drive against drugs which had led to huge drug recoveries. On the Delhi assembly elections, he claimed that the SAD would win all four seats it was contesting. He said the state would soon be power surplus. The state’s road network would be strengthened within the next three years. He expressed hope that the state would attract more industrial investment in view of the its “impressive infrastructure”.
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BSNL lost 2,48,466 mobile subscribers in state in 3 yrs
Muktsar, November 27 As per information procured under the Right To Information Act, as many as 3,80,408 state mobile phone subscribers ported out to other networks from the BSNL till October 31. However, against this figure, 1,31942 subscribers have ported in to the BSNL during the same period. It means, in less than three years, the BSNL has lost as many as 2,48,466 subscribers in the state that, too, when the company is taking a number of "steps to retain" its subscribers. The mobile number portability service was launched in January 2011. Mobile phone users said that though the BSNL services were cheaper than some other telecom operators, low connectivity was the major reason for the decreasing number of its subscribers. Gagan Deep, who is using the mobile phone services of the BSNL, said, "I am planning to port in to some other private network because I have been facing network problem in some rural areas." Many BSNL subscribers said the organisation had "poor customer-care service". Moreover, they said, private telecom operators were offering good discounts. The information provided by the office of Senior General Manager, BSNL, Chandigarh, also revealed that the company had sold 3,762 fancy numbers in the state.
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Need to upgrade AIDS control infrastructure: Union MoS
Hoshiarpur, November 27 The minister expressed concern over increase in the number HIV cases in the state and cited the increased abuse of injecting drug use (IDU) among youth as the major reason. It was pointed out that the rate of HIV infection in the state, which was highest in the country, was three times higher than the national average. The minister said it was a serious issue, which needed to be addressed on a priority basis as it was affecting all sections of society. Chowdhary stressed the need for launching an awareness campaign to sensitise youth about the ill-effects of drug abuse and to motivate them to come forward for voluntary blood donation. She said efforts should be made to bring down the discard rate of blood units from the prevailing 3.41 per cent in the state. She was critical about the state of affairs related to health facilities in the state and asked the state government to address the issues. On her direction, a follow-up review meeting with state officials has been scheduled on December 3 in New Delhi. Dr Kharpade, Deputy Director General, Department of AIDS Control, Government of India; Vinni Mahajan, Principal Secretary (HFW); and Dr Husan Lal, Secretary (Health) and Managing Director, National Rural Health Mission & AIDS Control were among others present at the meeting. Highlights of the meeting *
Pointing out that the rate of HIV infection in Punjab was three times more than the national average, the Union MoS for Health said the issue should be addressed on a priority basis *
The minister said efforts should be made to bring down the discard rate of blood units *
She was critical about health facilities in the state and asked the state government to address the same *
A review meeting has been called on December 3 in Delhi
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BHOLA’S
DRUG RING
Patiala, November 27 Further, the police have identified six NRIs who were instrumental in supplying drugs from India to foreigners via Canada. Police investigations have revealed that the Canada-based scribe ran his own newspaper for a few months, joined the drug trade in 2003-4 and later got in touch with Bhola and drug lord Anup Singh Kahlon. “Together, they connived with some NRIs who are on the run,” police sources said. Despite repeated attempts, none of those named by the police could be contacted. “The arrest of these NRIs is important as they will have much to reveal,” said Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardyal Singh Mann. “The ‘scribe’ was now running a store near the Niagra Falls. Fearing arrest, he has gone underground,”the SSP said.The state police are trying to contact the Interpol for help in arresting these persons. Reliable sources within the police department said a week before Bhola’s arrest, seven main drug suppliers, all NRIs, had held a meeting in Toronto to find new ways to smuggle drugs into Canada. The sources said that more that 32 NRIs involved in the racket had been identified. “Bhola had hired persons in Vietnam and China to pack drugs in air-tight packets to escape detection by sniffer dogs and X-ray scanners at airports,” they said. Meanwhile, Bhola was today sent to transit remand again. The police will again present him in court tomorrow to seek his remand in the Fatehgarh Sahib case registered against him in March 2013. charges and rebuttal The SAD had become a safe haven for criminals. The Badals are harbouring anti-social elements to further their political interests — Partap Bajwa, ppcc president Instead of seeking SAD ministers’ resignation, the Cong should praise the government for acting tough against those involved in the racket— Sukhbir Badal, deputy chief minister
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Day after clash, tenuous peace at Faridkot village
Faridkot, November 27 A heavy police contingent have been deployed at all entry and exit points. “The riot police, commandos and CRPF battalions from neighbouring districts have been deployed in the village. More police force will be summoned if need be,” said Kamaljit Singh Dhillon, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Moga. These measures notwithstanding, the police and civil administration is under strain as the situation remains volatile. The police have booked 80 persons for attempt to murder and outraging the religious feelings of dera followers. But the latter are demanding that the accused be arrrested forthwith failing which they have threatened to hold a statewide agitation. Apprehending arrest, a large number of youths and elders have fled the village following an FIR on the complaint of dera followers, said Jasdeep Singh Gehri, sarpanch of Dhudike village. Gehri is one of those named in the FIR. At least 15 families of dera followers are also living in fear in anticipation of a backlash. In the neighbouring villages of Saidoke, Chuhar Chak, Ajitwal and Buttar, the dera followers have a considerable presence. So the police have stepped up vigilance in these villages. A seven-member delegation of dera followers today met the SSP and gave the police a 24-hour ultimatum to arrest the accused. “Dera followers have started gathering in Moga and will take to the streets if the police show reluctance in taking action against the accused, some of them being Akali leaders,” said Gurmail Singh, dera block president. The SSP said the police had lodged two FIRs. In the first FIR, more than 60 accused persons were yet to be identified and in the second, all accused, including a sitting and a former panchayat member had been named. Jagtar Singh Dhaliwal, Zila Parishad member, also an accused in one of the FIRs, claimed he had been falsely implicated.
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Advance tax to stall growth: Steel industry
Chandigarh, November 27 Spelling their opposition against the move, several big industrial houses are now asking the state government to withdraw it as it was “detrimental to the interests of the industry”. They said the industry in Punjab had already lost its competitive edge to the industry that had come up in either tax exempt hill states or near ports. Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a conference on steel, organised by CII here, VR Sharma, deputy managing director and CEO, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd., said the need of the hour was to remove tax barriers within states. “Punjab imposes 5 per cent entry tax on steel, which makes the commodity expensive. On the other hand, UP and Haryana have reduced the tax from 5 per cent to 1 per cent. Delhi and Rajasthan do not charge any such tax.” DK Sidhwani, president of Hero Steels, said advance tax would affect cash flow. “The Punjab steel industry is already facing a crisis because of competition from the integrated steel units that have come up in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The cost of production is much lower there and in order to remain competitive, the Punjab industry too needs to match the prices in other states.”
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Family to receive Sarabjit’s belongings at Attari today
Amritsar, November 27 Talking to The Tribune, Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur said she had received a call from the Union Ministry of External Affairs today, informing her that Sarabjit's belongings will be handed over to the family tomorrow by the officials of the Indian High Commission (in Pakistan) around noon at the Attari-Wagah border. On what all comprised his belongings, she said she had no clue as they had been told three packets would be handed over to the family. But reports suggested the belongings comprised a copy of the Quran, three holy books in Hindi, a rosary, five sets of clothes, a sleeping mattress, a pitcher, shawl, wrist watch, spectacles, utensils, a blanket, shoes and pictures of his family. She said she had doubts whether Pakistan would give Sarabjit's diaries which, she felt, could contain vital clues about his killing. “Sarabjit had a habit of writing and he used to pen down whatever he went through in the prison daily,” she said. Asked what the family intended to do with his belongings, she said they were planning to showcase his belongings in Sarabjit’s memorial that they would be constructing in his native Bhikhiwind village in Tarn Taran district. She said they will also be putting up a statue of Sarabjit in his memorial, which will be on the lines of a museum. The Pakistan Government has handed over Sarabjit’s belongings to Indian officials in Pakistan yesterday. The move to return his belongings came after Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur requested Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to bring back the same. Sarabjit had died in Lahore on May 2 after being brutally attacked by fellow inmates at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail on April 26. He had strayed into Pakistani territory in an inebriated condition in 1990 and was implicated in a serial bomb blast case. He was subsequently sentenced to death. What all it comprises
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Pollution around Golden Temple to be curtailed
Amritsar, November 27 It will also set up a power substation to ensure uninterrupted supply in the shrine's vicinity to check the use of generators that lead to pollution. After a meeting with officials of the SGPC, PPCB, MC, PSPCL and the police here today, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said the government, along with the SGPC, had decided to initiate various measures to check pollution in the shrine’s vacinity. He said the ‘air control monitoring station’ would monitor the pollution level. More battery-operated vehicles for carrying pilgrims were in the pipeline. Already, the movement of vehicles more than 15 years old within the walled city had been prohibited in a bid to check pollution, he said. The DC said the traffic police too had come out with a plan to reduce congestion on roads leading to the Golden Temple. Instructions, prohibiting any new industry within a radius of 2-km of the Golden Temple had been issued while it was being ensured that the existing industry followed pollution norms. The MC officials had been directed to ensure that all approach roads to the Golden Temple were clean and free of encroachers. Dalmegh Singh, SGPC secretary, said they were constructing a ‘langar’ hall at a cost of Rs 17 crore that would be pollution- free. It would come up within 18 months.
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Sikhs to report airport abuse via smartphone app in US
Washington, November 27 The free downloadable app called FlyRights lets travellers instantly send their concerns to the US Transportation Security Administration, which would then respond through its own channels. Launched ahead of Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel periods in the United States, the updated
"FlyRights 2.0" also allows passengers to send copies of their complaints to members of Congress, and it features maps that show which airports have the most troubling records. An initial version of FlyRights has been downloaded 18,000 times since it was launched in April 2012, according to the Sikh Coalition, the advocacy group that released the application.
Amardeep Singh, Director of Programmes at the Sikh Coalition, said many travellers did not trust the Transportation Security Administration's own response to complaints and called for an independent review of its screening practices. "Until that happens, we call on the public to hold the TSA accountable by downloading and using
FlyRights," Singh said. Singh addressed a news conference that included rights activists for African Americans and people with disabilities, who said they also found the app useful to address concerns about profiling. "The rights of every individual deserve to be protected. And we can be safe without violating the rights of individuals," said Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Sikh Coalition says that some US airports pull aside virtually all Sikh men, stigmatising them, leading outsiders to associate turbans with danger. Sikhs in the United States have faced a wave of violence since the September 11, 2001 attacks, with assailants sometimes believing them to be radical Muslims. In the worst incident, a white supremacist shot dead six Sikhs after barging into their temple in Wisconsin in August 2012. Singh said that the Sikh Coalition hoped eventually to expand FlyRights beyond airports to include schools, where Sikh children report widespread bullying. Fighting for rights *
The free downloadable app called FlyRights lets travellers instantly send their complaints to the US Transportation Security Administration *
It has maps that show which airports have the worst records *
Some US airports pull aside virtually all Sikh men
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Police wing to check NRIs’ credentials
Mohali, November 27 Said LK Yadav, Deputy Inspector-General: “In view of the growing cases of matrimonial disputes involving NRIs, we decided to provide this service to the people here. “But certainly we have no intentions to run a marriage bureau,” he added on a lighter note. About 3,000 complaints have been lodged with the police NRI wing (which was inaugurated in August this year) and 50 per cent of these are matrimonial disputes. Yadav said in several cases, the NRI grooms/brides had been found married already or without permanent residency in that country. Yadav said the special police wing also ran a check to determine if they had a criminal record.
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Shun jeans, thwart trouble, advise saints
Abohar, November 27 Mainpuri-based Devi Sampad Mandal chief Swami Shardanand Saraswati and other saints said it was the shift to Western culture and values that had triggered violence against women.
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Subway ad with Sikh actor Ahluwalia vandalised
Washington, November 27 Senior editor at The Islamic Monthly and founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, Arsalan Iftikhar, posted the picture of the ad on his Twitter and Facebook wall, in which the caption had been changed from 'Make Love' to 'Make Bombs', and the writer had also scrawled 'Please stop driving TAXIS' onto the poster. Iftikhar said that when he came across the picture, he wanted the world to see how millions of brown people were viewed in America today, Huffington Post reports. Within a day of posting the picture, Gap tweeted back at Iftikhar, asking him to help them find the location of the ad and the company even extended their support by changing their account's Twitter background to the picture of Ahluwalia. The report said that the company's prompt action and the show of solidarity was applauded by Sikhs and Muslims alike, as some members of the community started a 'Thank you, Gap' campaign to appreciate their action. —ANI The incident *
A Muslim senior editor reportedly came across a vandalised subway ad for Gap, featuring Sikh actor Waris Ahluwalia (in
pic) * He brought the designer company's attention to the racist messages scribbled on the ad, prompting a swift and incredible response from them.
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SSA staff warn of stepping up agitation
Amritsar, November 27 The pen-down strike by the union members today entered its 37th day. They have been demanding pay scale at par with SSA teachers. Vikas Kumar further warned of intensifying their stir if their demands were not met. The strike has crippled the functioning of several government schools in the state. The data compilation and communication network of the district and the state head quarter offices has been hit the most. Similarly, uniform grants and wages of SSA teachers are yet to be disbursed.
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Officials given powers to check illegal mining
Tarn Taran, November 27 He said there were many mining sites at Jalloke, Kot Budha, Gaggarke, Ballarke, Jhugian Peer Bakash, Gazzal, Kutiwala, Booh, Sabhra, Ghullewal, Bhalojla and Gaggrewal villages in the district for which the environment department had not given its permission for sand mining. Besides the SDMs of Tarn Taran, Khadur Sahib and Patti, the administration gave powers to check illegal mining to the Divisional Wild Officer, officials of the Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply and Sanitation departments.
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Faridkot hospital targets Pak cancer patients
Faridkot, November 27 Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), the administrator of the medical college, wants to develop the town as a medical tourism destination for cancer patients, especially from Pakistan as the neighbouring country is reported to have the highest rate of breast cancer in Asia and the treatment cost there is very high. Besides infrastructure addition by the state government, the Centre has established a super-speciality cancer hospital in the medical college here. It thus has the potential to attract medical tourists, especially cancer patients from Pakistan, said Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor, BFUHS. As the cost of treatment in developed countries like the US and the UK are high, the comparatively low-priced healthcare in Faridkot offers a big incentive to Pakistan nationals, he said. To develop this medical tourism for the benefit of the people from both countries, the Hussainiwala Indo-Pak border in Ferozepur needs to be opened to reduce the distance, said Deep Malhotra, Akali MLA from Faridkot. Earlier, cancer patients from the Malwa region used to travel to Bikaner in Rajasthan, but now, the medical college -- besides the denizens of the state -- is catering to patients from the neighbouring states of Haryana and Rajasthan, said Dr Sanjeev Goyal, Deputy Medical Superintendent at the medical college. Within two years after the start of the radiotherapy department, the number of cancer patients in the OPD of the medical college has increased from 45 to 80 daily. Everyday, the department is giving chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to 120-125 patients, said Goyal. After spending over Rs 35 crore on the latest applications of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, this medical college has North India’s first single-emission computed tomography centre where radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA. This hospital has the most-advanced facility of liner accelerators -- the newest radiation technology available across the world. The machines produce and deliver radiation with precision -- previously unavailable - with accuracy down to millimetre, said Dr Gill. Costing over Rs 12 crore, the liner accelerator uses digitised imaging to precisely map out the tumour to provide highly targeted radiation therapy. Earlier, the radiation therapy damaged normal cells along with cancer cells, leading to many side-effects but the damage to normal cells with the liner accelerator was now comparatively low, he said. Besides a huge investment in setting up infrastructure, the medical college, in the past two years, has recruited over 170 doctors and 350 paramedical staff. There has been a manifold increase in the number of patients. From 1.57 lakh in 2008, the OPD patients have increased to 2.66 lakh by the end of October 2013. Besides, there is a seven-time rise in the number of surgeries, claimed Dr GC Ahir, principal of the medical college. The hygiene level at the hospital has also witnessed a remarkable improvement in the past two years, said Tarsem Lal, the husband of a cancer patient. More women suffer from food pipe cancer than men
PATIALA: The data collected during the ‘An Atlas of Cancer in Punjab’ project of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed that the number of women with oesophagus (food pipe) cancer is almost twice the number of men suffering from the same in Punjab. The project was initiated in June 2011. It is generally perceived that oesophagus cancer is caused due to the consumption of tobacco. However, surprisingly the number of women consuming tobacco in the state is very low. Ever since the project was launched, 32,000 confirmed cases of cancer from Punjab have been registered with the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) of ICMR. Dr MS Bal, Principal Investigator of Punjab Cancer registry and Head of Pathology Department of Government Rajindra Hospital, said, “In 1985, I along with Dr Kalyani Kapoor had carried out a study for oesophagus cancer in Amritsar and found that oesophagus cancer was more prevalent among women. ” Making strides *
Government Medical College and Hospital (in pic) has spent Rs 80 cr on world-class radiation therapy machines *
Besides infrastructure addition by the state government, the Centre has established a super-speciality cancer hospital in the college *
The hospital claims to have North India’s first single-emission computed tomography centre *
Comparatively low cost of treatment here offers a big incentive to Pak nationals who travel to US or UK
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Kashmir Gill is next Yuba City Mayor
Sacramento, November 27 Gill was the Mayor of Yuba City from 2009 to 2010 and a council member from 2006 to 2010. Gill emigrated with his family from Lakhsian village of Punjab as a young child, and the entire family worked in the farming sector. His family is still involved in farming. Gill has got a Bachelor's degree in agricultural business from California State University, Chico. He is also a graduate of California Agricultural Leadership Programme and the Graduate School of Banking Boulder, Colorado. Gill was sworn in as Yuba City's Mayor in November 2009. Even with the town's large population of Punjabis, he was the first Punjabi-American and the first Sikh to hold the title. Moreover, he was one of the first Indian mayors in America. Gill is currently working at Mechanics Bank as Vice President - Senior Relationship Manager. He is an active member of the Republican Party. Kash is married to Neena Gill from Ludhiana, and they have three children Harveen, Rajan and
Preya. His achievements *
Gill was Mayor of Yuba City in 2010 and was re-elected to City Council for 2012, receiving the highest votes in the election *
He was the Mayor of Yuba City from 2009 to 2010 and a council member from 2006 to 2010.
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Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
for Jalandhar instrument maker
Jalandhar, November 27 Gurdial Singh has been selected for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to traditional musical instrument making. He is one of the most insightful and noted instrument makers of Punjab. Having migrated from Pakistan, he started making instruments in the 1950s. Picking up music as a child from his father Pal Narayan Singh, who was a raagi, he took to instrument making as a profession under the tutelage of his uncle Mohan Singh. He opened his workshop in the 1970s. Over the years, he kept incorporating the musical wisdom of some of the biggest classical music icons of the country in his art. Having prepared instruments for Ustad Vilayat Khan, who was a friend, he also had close encounters with artistes like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amir Khan, Pandit Nikhil Banerji and Satguru Jagjit Singh, among a host of other artistes for whom he made/repaired instruments and exchanged valuable insights in the technique and understanding of stringed instruments. Among the instruments he prepares are sitar, surbahaar — he is an expert of sitar jowari (bridge) — and stringed gurmat sangeet instruments like
rabab, sarandha, dilruba among others. His devotion to the art and music (he also plays sitar himself) made him a sought-after instrument expert for artists who came visiting during the Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan. He is well-versed with the instrument preferences and subtleties of most artists. He says: “Pandit Ravi Shankar always preferred a heavy stringed sitar called Sharaj Pancham and Ustad Vilayat Khan liked Gandhaar
Pancham. All artistes like instruments suited to their own choices and playing styles. An instrument-maker has to be extremely sensitive to these preferences and the tone of the instrument to satisfy artistes. It is a study unto itself and I am still studying”. “I haven’t earned much. I never treated it as a profession. It is an art which requires a keen ear. The music is what matters and it gives me immense satisfaction. What your instrument looks like is secondary and doesn’t change its sound,” he says A proud father, he is one of the blessed instrument-makers whose next generation is keenly following in his footsteps (his shop is called Gurdial Singh and Sons). “His son Sukhwinder Singh Goldy and grandson Prabhneet Singh Kaka are keen instrument-makers and offer reassurance to the region that the noble legacy of Gurdial Singh will continue.”
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Now, NRI wing to help check fraud marriages
Mohali, November 27 LK Yadav, Deputy Inspector-General, said: “In view of the growing cases of matrimonial disputes involving NRIs, we have decided to provide this service to the people here. “But certainly we have no intentions to run a marriage bureau,” he added on a lighter note. About 3,000 complaints have been lodged with the police NRI wing (which was inaugurated in August this year) and 50 per cent of these are matrimonial disputes. Yadav said in several cases, the NRI grooms/brides had been found married already or without permanent residency in that country. Yadav said the special police wing also ran a check to determine if they had a criminal record.
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Student killed in California car crash
San Francisco, November 27 Sanjeev Joshi was pronounced dead at the scene. The authorities said three other people in the car were injured. Sanjeev was the only son of Parshotam Joshi and mother Vijay Joshi. The family had emigrated from Pharwala village of Jalandhar district in Punjab.
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Frame recruitment rules in a month: HC
Chandigarh, November 27 In a far-reaching direction issued to the Punjab Government and the commission, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih directed the rights body chairman to protect the interests of all the employees working on a contractual or outsourcing basis for a considerable period while finalising the recruitment rules. The Bench also took strong exception that the state government had slept over the matter despite earlier High Court direction on finalising recruitment rules within six months. The Bench observed that the government has woken up just before the date of hearing and had forwarded the draft rules to the Finance/Personnel Departments and the PPSC only on November 15 for getting their inputs. The Bench thereupon directed that the two departments and the PPSC to give their inputs to the Home Department within a month. The Bench added that the chairman would finalise the recruitment rules within the next month. In this PIL filed by Dinesh Chadha, directions have been sought to the respondents to frame recruitment rules for staff on a permanent basis in the
PSHRC. Bench’s observations *
The Bench took strong exception of the fact that the state government had ‘slept over’ the matter despite the court’s earlier direction on finalising the rules within six months *
It observed that the government had woken up just before the date of hearing and had forwarded the draft rules to the Finance/Personnel Departments and the PPSC on November 15 for getting their inputs
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Case against Badal dismissed
Chandigarh, November 27 A spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s office said Circuit Judges Posner, Rovner and Williams dismissed the petition. “It is ordered and adjudged that this case is dismissed,” the court was quoted to have said. Sikhs for Justice had alleged that the Chief Minister had used the police to terrorise and torture countless persons. The suit had also named Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The appeal was filed after a US district court in Wisconsin dismissed the case. District Judge Lynn Adelman, while pronouncing the judgment, had ordered that the petition be dismissed for failure to “effectuate service”. The plaintiffs had alleged that they had served summons on Parkash Singh Badal on August 9, 2012, at Oak Creek High School at a function organised by the Department of Justice, US. The Chief Minister contended that he had not visited the school on that date.
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HC stays notification on enhanced court fee
Chandigarh, November 27 The orders by Justice RK Garg came during the hearing of an appeal in a recovery suit between Sarwan Singh and Jaghmohan Singh. The appeal was filed in accordance with the court fee prescribed before the 2010 notification. But an objection was raised by the High Court Registry. Counsel for the appellant, Rajinder Kumar Singla contended that the enhanced fee as per the 2010 notification was not applicable to the High Court as it was required to be issued by the Centre in this case.
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Man kills wife in Sangrur
Sangrur, November 27 Station House Officer (SHO) of the Dirba police station Subeg Singh said Gurtej Singh had allegedly feld after murdering his wife Ranjit Kaur. The SHO said as per the statement of the brother of the deceased, Gurtej was a habitual drinker and his sister had been objecting to this habit. Due to this, Gurtej beat up his sister often and today, he had killed her over the issue, he alleged. A case has been registered against Gurtej and his father Soun Singh.
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San Francisco, November 27
A copy of the Quran, three holy books in Hindi, a rosary, clothes, a sleeping mattress, pitcher, shawl, wrist watch, spectacles, utensils, a blanket, shoes and pictures of his family