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Protesting property tax, Cong leaders block road
Tewari takes on SAD for
‘forcible’ land acquisition
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Police probing Dhami’s links with peddlers
Sniffing is passé, now addicts turn to injecting heroin
‘Ram-Leela’ unit wants complainant booked for buying pirated CD
SGPC warns against ‘parshad’ from strangers
On disability day, nod to fill posts for visually impaired
His love for tattoos did him in
Holiday in govt schools today
Anganwadi workers’ protest march ends
Sikh man in US facing bias for beard gets $50,000
Online admit cards for PU students MLA: Halt train at Gururharsahai
HC for more transparency in allocation of tenders
Submit details of those jumping parole, says HC
Sikh leader faces fraud case in NZ
Convicted, Indian may lose Oz citizenship
22 kg heroin found in Pak rail cargo
Thieves decamp with ATM at Muktsar
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Protesting property tax, Cong leaders block road
Muktsar, December 3 The protesters raised anti-government slogans. They appealed to the public not to pay the property tax. Addressing the gathering, Muktsar MLA Karan Kaur Brar flayed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for his "negligent" approach towards Muktsar town. "The Chief Minister has done little for the development of this religious town," she claimed. She also criticised Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for spending huge money on the inauguration of the World Cup Kabaddi. Other leaders raised the issue of meagre compensation to victims of waterlogging. "A large number of villagers whose houses were damaged got meagre relief. On the other hand, a majority of residents of Mohlan village got compensation even without incurring any loss. The administration is working at the behest of Akalis," the leaders alleged. Former minister Hansraj Josan said: "The state, particularly Jalalabad in Fazilka district, has become a hub of drug trade. But, the Deputy CM who also holds the Home portfolio has failed to initiate steps to check the menace in his own constituency." He alleged there were a number of places where drugs were openly available, but none seemed to be bothered. "I had brought the matter to the notice of the DGP, but to no avail," he added. The former minister said despite a ban on mining of sand and gravel, the illegal activity was rampant in Guruharsahai, Fazilka and Ferozepur. Others present included Gidderbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, former Muktsar MLA Bhai Harnirpal Singh Kukku and district Congress president Gurdas Girdhar.
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Tewari takes on SAD for
‘forcible’ land acquisition
Ludhiana, December 3 Addressing a series of workers' meetings in the Dakha assembly segment, Tewari said when he asked government officials as to why was the land being acquired under the old law, he was told that the new law would come into force in the state from January 2014. He said in that case, the government should have waited for a month so that the farmers' interests were safeguarded. "But, the government wants to grab farmers' land for peanuts by hurriedly issuing acquisition notices," he alleged. Tewari claimed that the Badal government was implementing various central welfare schemes like the Food Security Act, Pradhanmantri Gram Sadak Yojana and other similar schemes after re-branding to claim these as its own. “But you cannot befool the people anymore. This will become evident in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
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Police probing Dhami’s links with peddlers
Patiala, December 3 Dhami, who was living as Jujhar Singh in Jalandhar’s Urban Estate, was planning to get re-married. The police is probing his contacts in the past four years. “He has active links with some high-profile drug peddlers,” the sources claimed, adding that his phone records were being studied. A senior police officer said Dhami’s wife and two children were in the US. “Despite this, a Jalandhar-based girl is eager to marry him.” On August 31, 2008, Dhami and his friend Gurpreet Singh Gosal (29) had entered the temple grounds of the Sacramento Sikh Society and fired several shots while a cricket tournament was on, killing during Indian origin US citizen Paramjit Singh Pamma. A few hours after the shootout, Dhami escaped from the US and reached Mexico. “There he procured forged documents and a passport under a fake name and travelled to Germany”, said DSP Bhupinder Singh, who interrogated Dhami. From Germany, Dhami travelled to Delhi under a fake passport. Dhami has been booked for travelling on a fake passport, forgery and fraud. The police is trying to ascertain if Dhami was involved in Jagdish Bhola’s multi-million drug racket, either directly or indirectly. “We have some vital clues but these cannot be shared at this juncture,” a police officer said. He said Dhami’s father, who was facing trial for smuggling cocaine into the US, was murdered. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had announced a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to Dhami’s arrest. His background *
He was born in California on Sept 17, 1984 * His family originally hailed from Kala Bakra village in Jalandhar *
His father Balbir Singh Sahota was shot and his mother Kuldip Kaur injured by an assailant in their Sacramento home in May, 2011 *
Balbir Singh had faced drug trafficking charges and was arrested in 2007 His escape *
After the August 31, 2008, shootout at Sacremento, Dhami reportedly escaped to Mexico within hours *
From there he travelled to Germany on a fake passport * He then reached Nepal and entered India via the land route *
He chose to reside in Jalandhar’s Urban Estate under the name of Jujhar Singh Crackdown on hawala traders in Phagwara Continuing its drive against ‘hawala’ traders, officials of the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted raids on the offices and residential premises of two Phagwara -based money ‘changers’, Bhandari Forex and Shukla Forex. They seized “unaccounted” foreign exchange and Indian currency worth Rs 40 lakh.
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Sniffing is passé, now addicts turn to injecting heroin
Chandigarh, December 3 Manish Kumar, team leader of technical support unit of the Punjab AIDS Control Society confirmed the development. “The new trend of taking heroin through injections has gained ground among addicts in the last less than a year. Batala, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Patti, which share border with Pakistan and thus have an established route for the entry of heroin, are the worst-hit areas,” he said. Though there has been no ground study to confirm the reasons for the change, some addicts, on being contacted by health workers, claimed heroin to be “more effective, faster and long lasting” when injected into the blood. Another aspect that has come to light is that addicts hooked on to chemical drugs till recently have now switched over to heroin. The reason: The Punjab Police tightening the noose around the manufacturers of synthetic drugs and arresting many of them. Hussan Lal, Project Director of the Punjab State AIDS Control Society, said, “We started getting more information on heroin being taken though injections when we were studying the extremely high figures of HIV positivity among identified users in the state. The figures are 21.02 per cent against the national average of 7.2 per cent.” The society is also working in the background of HIV cases shifting fast from urban to rural areas and from the high risk group (sex workers and truck drivers) to the general population. The society has approximately 12,100 identified users on its rolls against the estimated total of 13,100 in Punjab. Of the total population, 800 are HIV positive. Punjab has approximately 20,000 sex workers covered under the programme against the total strength of nearly 23,200. The state has a strength of estimated 6,200 MSM (men having sex with men) population. A core area of the programme is preventing reuse of needles by intravenous drug users by providing them new ones. Dangerous trend *
The trend is rising alarmingly in Punjab areas bordering Pakistan *
The worst affected are Batala, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Patti * Addicts claim heroin is "more effective, faster and long lasting" when injected directly into the blood *
The new trend of taking heroin through injections has gained ground in the last less than a year.
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‘Ram-Leela’ unit wants complainant booked for buying pirated CD
Chandigarh, December 3 As the case came up for resumed hearing, Justice Jitendra Chauhan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was told that the complainant in the case against director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh had given a CD of the movie to the police. In response, counsel for the director and the cast told the court that the official CD of the movie had not been released; and the CD with the police was pirated. He also sought directions from the court to register a case against the complainant under the anti-piracy laws. The counsel also referred to a Jaipur High Court order which said the police lacked the authority to register an FIR against a film before the censor board cleared it. Taking up the matter, Justice Chauhan asked the investigating officer whether he had seen the CD. On receiving a negative answer, Justice Chauhan raised questions on the probe carried out by the police in the matter. The police, meanwhile, told the court that they wanted to carryout arrests in the case. Taking a note of the submission, Justice Chauhan ruled that any proposal for arrest in connection with the film be kept in abeyance.
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SGPC warns against ‘parshad’ from strangers
Amritsar, December 3 Condemning the incident while talking to mediapersons here today, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar appealed the pilgrims not to accept ‘parshad’ from any unknown person while visiting the shrine. He said they were trying to identify the culprits with the help of CCTV footage following which stringent action would be initiated against them. But, the footage scanned till now did not show anybody giving 'parshad' to the victims who could be seen entering the Golden Temple Complex, said sources. They said they were not given 'karah parshad' and it could be some sweet. He said thousands of devotees visit the holy shrine to pay obeisance but some mischievous elements take advantage of their faith in a bid to rob them of their belongings. The police has registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the yesterday’s incident following a complaint from Sukhwinder Singh of Kota. Last month, a devotee from Jabalpur, Amarjeet Singh, had died while five others were taken ill after consuming 'langar' put up by a private organisation near Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai on the occasion of Diwali. The residents of other states were targeted in both the instances. Fresh measures against ‘toxic’ parshad * Security to be beefed up in Golden Temple Complex *
Announcements on public address system against accepting 'parshad' from strangers *
Staff deployed with CCTV facility to be provided wireless sets * Four LCD screens to come up to provide information to pilgrims in Punjabi, Hindi and English *
These will come up one each near langar hall, 'jora ghar', Atta Mandi entrance and Ghanta Ghar entrance *
Boards will also be put up to caution the pilgrims * Proper identity cards to be issued to SGPC employees deployed in the Golden Temple
'parikarma' * Pilgrims told to take 'karah parshad' only from authorised 'parshad' counters
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On disability day, nod to fill posts for visually impaired
Faridkot, December 3 These posts have been lying vacant for past quite some time and filling these from among its members was a pending demand of the National Federation of Blinds. The federation had, among other modes of protest, organised a march thrice to the home town of the Chief Minister in the last five months. It has been demanding 1 per cent reservation in reserved posts in all government departments. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the Director, Social Security Department, said Badal had cleared the file to fill 167 posts by converting these into hobby teachers. On the pattern of Kendriya Vidyalayas, these teachers will help the students as instructors in cultural activities. Evaluate posts for differently abled: HC Chandigarh: The Punjab Government has directed all its departments to evaluate the reserved posts for differently abled persons under the rules fixed group vise as per cadre strength in the departments within stipulated time and fill the vacancies within a fixed time period. These instructions were issued as per the orders of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson of the Punjab Government said if any department wanted to provide relaxation for any post under the reservation rules then complete case/proposal with authentic facts should be sent to the office of the Chief Secretary. The spokesperson clarified that no department would take this relaxation at its own level.
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His love for tattoos did him in
Jalandhar, December 3 While Parmjit Singh Pamma was killed, several others were injured in the shootout. Dhami’s accomplice Gurpreet Singh Gosal was overpowered by onlookers and sentenced to 35 years in
jail. Dhami was born in California on September 17, 1984. His family originally hailed from Kala Bakra village in Jalandhar district. His father Balbir Singh Sahota was shot dead and his mother Kuldip Kaur critically injured by an assailant in their Sacramento home in May, 2011. Balbir Singh had faced drug trafficking charges and was arrested in 2007.
Dhami, listed as ‘dangerous’ by the FBI, was extremely fond of tattoos, which helped the Punjab Police identify and nab him. Dhami had “Loyalty” and “916” inscribed on his right arm, “Soorma” on his left arm, “PBF” on the chest and a tear drop under his left eye. Identification marks * Dhami, listed as ‘dangerous’ by the FBI, was extremely fond of tattoos *
This helped the Punjab Police to identify and nab him * Dhami had “Loyalty” and “916” inscribed on his right arm *
“Soorma” on his left arm, “PBF” on the chest * A tear drop under left eye
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Chandigarh, December 3 The decision was taken to commemorate the outstanding performance by Punjab students in the 59th National School Games held in
Bathinda. Punjab students did the state proud, lifting the overall-trophy. — TNS
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Anganwadi workers’ protest march ends
Nawanshahr, December 3 Union leaders accused the Punjab Government of adopting “indifferent” attitude towards the demands of the anganwadi workers. The union demanded at least Rs 15,000 salary per month, pension and gratuity for the anganwadi and midday meal workers. — OC
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Sikh man in US facing bias for beard gets $50,000
New York, December 3 He was allegedly told that he would not be hired because he had a beard, which was a violation of the dealership's "no beard" policy for sales and administrative personnel, the northjersey.com news portal reported Tuesday. After the incident, Kherha contacted the Sikh Coalition, which works to protect human rights, and filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission filed the federal lawsuit in Newark against the dealership in October 2010. "Kherha has obtained both the benefit of monetary compensation and the knowledge that this litigation resulted in substantive non-monetary policy reforms, which will ultimately also make Tri-County Lexus a better business," Kherha's attorney said. However, in the agreement, Tri-County Lexus denied all of the allegations of discrimination and said it entered into the decree "solely to avoid the burdens and expenses of litigation". — IANS
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HC for more transparency in allocation of tenders
Chandigarh, December 3 The two states, the Centre and the UT have been asked to issue a circular to this effect to the departments concerned. “We are of the view that an appropriate circular must be issued both by the State of Punjab and the State of Haryana as well as by the Union of India and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, intimating to the departments concerned that whenever a representation is received regarding a tender as to why a particular party is disqualified or why the tender has been awarded to the successful party against whom the grievance is made, it should be disposed of within one week of receipt thereof giving rationale/reasons”. The directions came by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih on a petition by Rupinder Singh Saini against the State of Punjab and other respondents. His grievance was that the terms and conditions of a tender were violated, while awarding it to the successful party. The petitioner had said the successful party did not even have registration under the Shop Act, which was a mandatory requirement. Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted: “We call upon the respondents to decide the representations within a maximum period of one week and communicate the decision to the petitioner…. However, before we part with the matter, we must note that unnecessarily two rounds of litigation occur in these matters on account of the failure of the authorities concerned to respond to representations which should disclose the rationale for the decision so that an aggrieved party, if so advised, can approach the court. “Instead, what happens is that the first petition is filed only to find out as to what is the cause for award or rejection of a tender and when the reasons are communicated, then the second round of litigation begins. This results in unnecessary petitions being filed in the court”.
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Submit details of those jumping parole, says HC
Chandigarh, December 3 The number of those jumping parole in Haryana is much more, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was told in a PIL. Taking up the matter, the High Court issued a notice to Punjab and Haryana. It also sought details of those who had jumped parole in the two states and efforts made to re-arrest them. — TNS
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Sikh leader faces fraud case in NZ
Aukland, December 3 "This fraud did take place," Crown prosecutor Robin McCoubrey told the jury considering 38 charges against Labour Party member and Sikh leader Daljit Singh. Singh and other community members have all pleaded not guilty. They are accused of forging documents to change residential addresses showing that people from places such as Timaru and Tauranga lived in the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board area. Singh was a candidate in the first super-city election in 2010. The trial is into its eighth week having heard from 200 witnesses. "We can see the end now," Justice Mark Woolford told the 11-person jury this morning. Also on trial are Gurinder
Atwal, Davinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Virender Singh, Paramjit Singh, Malkeet Singh and Harmesh Singh. "The vast majority of those whose addresses were changed were unaware it was happening," McCoubrey said. The EEC noticed many voters were registered to the same address. They also found that they were coming from the same internet provider, or same computers and these were from Daljit Singh's home and from
Atwal's. McCoubrey in closing told the jury there had been a lot of talk in the trial about the Punjabi community, but warned them against
generalisations. Consider whether it actually happened rather than whether it was the thing that could have happened, he said. — Sikh24.com
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22 kg heroin found in Pak rail cargo
Amritsar, December 3 Addressing a press conference here this evening, Deputy Commissioner, Customs, Vijay Bahadur Singh said the contraband was found from Wagon No. 113193, one of the 10 wagons attached with Samjhauta Express that arrived here yesterday. These 10 wagons, of which nine were empty, were inspected by Customs officials at 11.40 am today. “On opening Wagon No 113193, the staff noticed a green cotton bag. When checked, it was found to contain 22 packets of heroin with markings in Urdu,” he said. The bag also contained a new one-time metal seal identical to the one affixed to the wagon door. The two seals had the same serial no. 3448846. This means smugglers retrieving heroin in India by breaking the wagon seal planned to replace it with the new one in the bag. In this was, nobody would have smelled any foul play. Though Customs officials here are tightlipped, sources said the connivance of Customs Department officials in Pakistan could not be ruled out as the wagons were sealed in their presence. This is the second such instance this year. Earlier, the officials had seized a new seal in a bag containing 10 kg of heroin on July 3. The Customs official said they had tested the contraband which appeared to be heroin. He said the wagon from which the recovery was made carried miscellaneous goods. The Customs officials in Pakistan had started using one-time metal seals for the wagons on the request of Indian counterparts after repeated seizures of heroin in the rail cargo from Pakistan last year. The recovery of over 150 kg of heroin last year had derailed cement imports from Pakistan via the rail route. Earlier seizures by Indian authorities * June 2, 2012: 5 kg of heroin hidden in a heap of 488 cement bags seized *
July 16, 2012: 7 kg of heroin from a wagon of goods train carrying cement from Pakistan seized *
August 3, 2012: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seize 3 kg of heroin hidden in cement bags *
October 8, 2012: 105 kg heroin worth Rs 525 crore and 500 cartridges found in rail cargo from Pakistan *
October 20, 2012: 23 kg of heroin found in rail cargo from Pak, porter arrested while trying to break wagon seal *
July 3, 2013: Customs Department finds 10 kg of heroin in a bag concealed in cement. New metal seal seized
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Thieves decamp with ATM at Muktsar
Muktsar, December 3 They sprayed black paint on the CCTV camera at the booth, uprooted the ATM using a JCB machine, loaded it onto a 10-tyre truck and fled. They rendered another CCTV camera on the other side of the road dysfunctional before committing the theft. An eyewitness told the police that he had noticed a JCB machine near the ATM at about 3.30 am. SL Kooday, bank branch manager, said he received a call from his colleague at 7 am to inform him about the missing ATM. He said they had outsourced the ATM working to a private company and that cash was loaded on the machine last afternoon. “The CCTV camera footage is not available as the hard disc placed inside the ATM has been stolen,” the manager said. This is the first of its kind incident in the area. A police party led by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) examined the crime site. Forensic experts collected some samples. Muktsar SSP Surjeet Singh said: “As of now, the involvement of an insider can’t be ruled out. We have gathered important clues. A key ring with the number of a hotel room has been found. The JCB machine owners have been asked to give information about their machines.” He blamed the bank authorities for not having deployed any security guard at the ATM booth, despite instructions by the RBI. Audacious act *
Thieves use JCB machine to remove, load ATM on to a 10-tyre truck *
Damage another CCTV camera on the other side of the road * The ATM booth is located on the busy Kotkapura road *
Senior police officials were busy with preparations for the World Cup Kabaddi matches to be played at Doda on December 5 A view of the ransacked ATM booth in Muktsar on Tuesday. Tribune photo
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A day after three pilgrims from Kota in Rajasthan were taken ill after consuming ‘parshad’ given to them by some strangers at the Golden Temple Complex here, the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) has announced a string of measures to check such incidents.
The Customs Department today found 22 kg of heroin and a one-time metal seal in rail cargo from Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference here this evening, Deputy Commissioner, Customs, Vijay Bahadur Singh said the contraband was found from Wagon No. 113193, one of the 10 wagons attached with Samjhauta Express that arrived here yesterday.
The minister warned the Punjab Government against circumventing the farmer-friendly Land Acquisition Act by "forcibly" trying to acquire land in Ludhiana under the archaic 1894 act, which "stands repealed".
He said Dhami and his gang were known to pick fights every now and then. “He was a rowdy character who formed a gang of bullies in Sacramento much before the shooting incident on August 31, 2008,” Sohal said.
* Spray black paint on CCTV camera inside ATM booth