Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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Tuesday, August 4, 1998 |
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 Decision on Udham Singh Nagar dismays Akalis CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 — Akalis are dismayed at the decision to include the district of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal. MC to give report on chlorination PATIALA, Aug 3 — Civil Judge R.S. Sachdeva directed the municipal corporation to furnish a report on the working of tubewells and the state of chlorination by August 10. |
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Minister cancels tender for
wheat purchase Badal
reviews flood work in border areas 30
schools without principals |
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Probe against ex-Chief Secretary
stayed CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 —The Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the ongoing inquiry ordered by the Punjab Government against its former Chief Secretary, Mr V.K. Khanna, into the allegations that he showed undue haste and did not apply his mind in referring to the CBI the land allotment to the Punjab Cricket Association and the alleged amassing of wealth beyond his known sources of income by Mr Bikramjit Singh, a senior IAS officer. This order was delivered by a Division Bench consisting of Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji and Mr Justice N.C. Khichi on an application moved by Mr Khanna praying for staying the proceedings being conducted by the inquiry authority appointed by the Punjab Government. The Bench also took exception to the sluggishness on the CBI in completing the investigation into the allotment of prime land to the PCA by Mr I.S. Bindra, a senior Punjab cadre IAS officer, and the assets allegedly amassed by Mr Bikramjit Singh. The CBI had registered on February 25, 1997, two FIRs (N0. 7 and 8). The high court had directed the CBI to complete the investigation as expeditiously as possible. Although more than one year had gone by since then, the CBI had not as yet completed the probe. Speaking for the Bench, Mr Justice Jhanji ordered that the CBI should be impleaded as a party to this case. He also directed the CBI to file its report about the investigation of these cases before the next date of hearing. The judge also ordered that the Union Government should also be impleaded as a party in this case. And when counsel for Mr Khanna told the court that he (Mr Khanna) was being victimised by the state government, Mr Justice Jhanji observed: "Neither Mr Khanna nor Mr Bindra or Mr Bikramjit Singh would be victimised. Let all facts come before the court." In his application Mr Khanna stated that he had filed an application before the Central Administrative Tribunal on April 24 for quashing the chargesheet and staying the proceedings pending before the inquiry authority. The tribunal had declined the relief to the extent of quashing the chargesheet. During the pendency of the case before the tribunal, the Punjab Government had appointed Mr Justice K.S. Tiwana, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as the inquiring authority. Mr Khanna stated that he moved an application before the inquiring authority saying that the hearing in the case might be postponed by two weeks as the arguments on the application he had moved before the tribunal had been concluded and the judgement was awaited any time. This was done to save the time of the inquiring authority. "Unfortunately, this most genuine request was not accepted by it . Instead, he was directed to inspect the documents specified in the list and also to submit a list of witnesses I wanted to examine." Mr Khanna, who now holds the post of Presiding Officer of the Sales Tax Tribunal, further brought to the courts notice that his request for engaging a lawyer, too, was turned down by the inquiring authority. His request for permitting his private secretary to take notes of the inquiry proceedings was also rejected by the authority on the plea that "provisions of the All India Service (Discipline and Appeals) Rules, 1969, do not provide for any such provision." Mr Khanna’s request for not holding in camera the inquiry proceedings, too, was declined. The authority also spurned his request for production of certain documents which were in the possession of different departments of the state government. He stated that denial of
the relevant record clearly amounted to denying him
proper and full opportunity to defend himself. |
Decision on Udham Singh Nagar CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 — Akalis are dismayed at the decision of the Union Cabinet to include the district of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal. The state is to be carved out from Uttar Pradesh and would consist of Kumaon and Garhwal regions. The Union Cabinet agreeing with the wishes of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and that of the people of the hill region rejected the demand of the Akalis and other political parties. It conceded only one demand that the land ceiling laws as applicable to in the hill region would not be applicable in Udham Singh Nagar district. This means that the land ceiling would more than the 2.5 to six acre limit applicable in the hills of Uttar Pradesh. The ceiling in the plains ranges from 12.5 acre to 15 acre per family holding. The Akalis feel cheated to
say the least. A senior Akali minister said, "we had
demanded the exclusion of the district on several
grounds. It is a plain area and has nothing in common
with the hill area. It has different language, culture
and social life. The decision would affect people as it
is the most prosperous area in the state having fertile
lands, factories, sugar mills and rice shellers. Now we
would be painted as the protectors of only landed
interests. This is unjust", he lamented. |
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Opposition leaders begin relay fast FEROZEPORE, Aug 3 — A five-member first batch of political leaders today started a 24-hour relay fast in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here in protest against the alleged police inaction in arresting the persons who had attacked the BSP state vice-president, Mr Lal Singh Sulhani, during the panchayat poll at Jhoke Harihar, near here. The state secretary of the CPI, Dr Joginder Dayal, the state president of the BSP, Mr C.D. Singh Kamboj, and a former MP, Mr Mohan Singh Phalliwanwala, were among those who sat on fast. Talking to newsmen, Dr Dayal and Mr Kamboj said the relay fast would continue till the persons responsible for the attack were arrested and the erring police officials suspended. A joint meeting of the CPI, the CPM and the BSP would be held at Chandigarh on August 6 to decide the future course of action. They alleged that the district administration had failed to provide justice in the matter and added: "We have lost faith in it." Criticising the SAD-BJP government, they alleged that fake police cases were being registered against the opposition leaders and activists. The policies of the Badal government were "anti-people" and "anti-Punjab" and none of the demands of Punjab had been accepted by the BJP-led government at the Centre, they added. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, was finding himself in a miserable condition. He had gone many times to the Centre with a 'begging bowl' to get Punjab's long-pending demands met, but had returned empty-handed. The opposition leaders criticised the state government for the hike in bus fares, increase in power tariff, 'failure' on the law and order front and collapse of the public distribution system. Instead of adopting measures to improve the economy of people of the state, the SAD-BJP government was preparing policies which could benefit only transporters, industrialists and feudalists, they alleged. Regarding the appeal made by the Akali Dal (Amritsar) to the chief of Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh, to issue a 'hukamnama' to the SAD MPs to oppose the BJP led government at the Centre on the Udham Singh Nagar issue, Dr Joginder Dayal said religion should be kept away from politics. He added that he was not
in favour of issuing a hukamnama on the issue. |
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MC to give report on
chlorination PATIALA, Aug 3 — Civil Judge R.S. Sachdeva while declining the request of the Public Interest Litigation Forum to constitute a committee of five lawyers, including representatives of the plaintiff, has, however, directed the municipal corporation to furnish a report on the working of tubewells and the state of chlorination by August 10. Delivering his judgement on July 30, a copy of which was received today, Mr Sachdeva has directed the municipal corporation Superintending Engineer, Mr M.N. Sharma, to submit a report about tubewells overheads, generators, the chlorinators in the stock register and in store. Mr Sachdeva said the Superintending Engineer would furnish other facts and figures to appreciate the respective contentions of the parties and to arrive at a better conclusion. Earlier, while declining the request of the plaintiffs for setting up a commission, Mr Sachdeva said the municipal corporation was a statutory body and its working could not be interfered with by way of appointment of a commission. The report sought by the plaintiff could be obtained by the court itself without constituting a committee, he added. Counsel for the plaintiff had referred to the L.K. Koolwal versus State of Rajasthan case in which a team of five eminent advocates were appointed by the court as commissioners to inspect the city with the petitioner and administrator of the municipality and submit a report about the implementation. The defence referred to a case in which the appointment of a commissioner to keep vigilance over officials acting in the exercise of power conferred by relevant Acts and common law was not permissible. It had said the purpose of the local commissioner was to elucidate the evidence on record and in the present case even the issues had not been settled. The case of the plaintiffs
is based on news items appearing in the Press which have
pointed out to the acute drinking water shortage, lack of
maintenance of tubewells, non-functioning of overhead
tanks, and non-chlorinification of water. The municipal
corporation had earlier while denying there was shortage
of drinking water said generators were in order,
tubewells and overhead tanks were working efficiently and
chlorination was taking place. |
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Minister cancels tender for wheat
purchase FARIDKOT, Aug 3 — Mr Inderjit Singh Zira, Punjab Health Minister, accompanied by Mr Gurdarshan Singh, IG (Prisons), Punjab, paid a surprise visit to the district jail here today to check the working conditions there. The Health Minister inspected godowns and found 120 bags of substandard wheat, which had been procured last week. He immediately ordered to seal the godown and deputed the IG (Prisons) to probe the matter, submit his report within a week and take action against the guilty officials. He also cancelled the tender for the purchase of 50 other bags of wheat which were to be procured shortly. The Health Minister asked Mr Gurdarshan Singh to make other arrangements to purchase wheat to meet the needs of prisoners at the earliest. Later, talking to newsmen, Mr Zira said he inspected the jail records and found a meeting of the four-member committee attended by the district tehsildar, agriculture development officer, superintendent, District Food Supply Controller, and the jail superintendent was held on July 21 on the jail premises to decide the purchase of wheat. The committee members placed an order with a contractor of Ferozepore for the supply of wheat. In reply to a question, the Health Minister said he received an anonymous complaint regarding the poor grading of eatable materials on a regular basis in the jail. He said the entire stock of edibles was not satisfactory for human consumption. The payment of the supplier had been stopped. Earlier, Mr Zira heard the grievances of prisoners and promised to resolve their problems at the earliest possible. A deputation of jail wardens led by its president, Mr Paramjit Singh, met the Health Minister and deplored the indifferent attitude of the jail superintendent towards them. The deputationists also complained regarding the poor conditions of their residential colony, the non-availability of proper latrines, bathrooms and various other facilities provided under the jail laws. They also submitted a charter of demands on the occasion. Refuting all charges, Mr
Jagroop Singh, jail superintendent, alleged he had been
maligned to stop his promotion. His promotion file after
being sanctioned by the Principal Secretary, Home, had
been lying with the Health Department officials since
March 31, he said. |
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Badal reviews flood work in
border areas AMRITSAR, Aug 3 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, during his visit to the border areas of this district, today reviewed the progress and status of various flood protection works undertaken by the Drainage Department along the Ravi, which is posing a threat to the life and property of the inhabitants of the Indian side due to strengthening of protection measures by Pakistan. He took stock of the various projects, including the Saharan and earthen bundhs. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinderjit Singh, and the SE, Drainage Department, Mr P.S. Jawandha, while briefing the Chief Minister, said there was an urgent need for the construction of an embankment on the Saharan bundh to save agricultural land from erosion. This project involved an expenditure of Rs 35 lakh. A sum of Rs 20 lakh had been provided for this purpose and work had already been started on this project. The earthen bundh project had been approved by the central team on the left side of the Ravi, involving a cost of Rs 1,70 crore. A central team, after visiting the Sherpur complex, approved the works on the border observation posts (BOPs), Sherpur. New spurs would be constructed on this site. Another project approved by the Central team involved an expenditure of Rs 4.81 crore on the Kakkar Manj complex. The Chief Minister said he had already taken up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs for immediate release of funds for these projects. Dr Rattan Singh, Minister
for Animal Husbandry, Mr Vir Singh Lopoke, MLA, Mr J.P.
Virdi, IG (Border), and Mr S.K. Goel, DIG (Border), were
also present. |
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Group clash
averted TARN TARAN, Aug 3 — Timely intervention of the police averted a clash between two religious groups at Khadoor Sahib, 25 km from here, today. According to information, 200 followers of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sangathan, Noormahal, gathered in the house of Jarnail Singh, for the annual satsang. Thousands of villagers headed by Mr Narinder Singh, Sarpanch, Khadoor Sahib, stopped them from holding the satsang, protesting against their ideology. Both groups were adamant
on their stand. This led to tension in the area. The
police intervened and followers of the Divya Jyoti
Jagriti Sangathan agreed not to hold the gathering. |
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Stay-in strike postponed CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 — After a meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union today postponed its four-day stay-in strike which was to begin from tomorrow. Mr Raj Kumar Arora, President of the union, in a signed statement said that the Chief Minister had called a meeting of all officials concerned on August 12 here for a detailed discussion with regard to the union’s demands. He said that both the
Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary had promised that
no recovery would be made with regard to C.C.A. arrears
and a letter regarding assured career progressive scheme
would be issued within a day or so. The main pending
demands of the union include three time bound promotional
scales and proper grades for ministerial staff. |
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Rallies against N-tests planned CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 —
The Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR), Punjab, has
decided to hold rallies, seminars and conventions at all
district headquarters to highlight the dangers of nuclear
tests. These would be followed by a state-level rally at
Chandigarh on August 6. |
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BSP (A) to launch stir from
August 10 JALANDHAR, Aug 3 — The Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar) will launch an agitation in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in protest against the ‘anti-poor’ policies of the central and state governments. Announcing this here today the BSP president, Mr Devi Dass Nahar, accused the Vajpayee and Badal governments of going back on their pre-poll promises of giving a corruption-free government. Instead of controlling the prices of basic commodities used by the poor, the government policies had led to a 300 per cent rise in the prices of essential commodities. Raising the corruption issue, Mr Nahar said out of every rupee spent for development activities by the government, 87 paise was pocketed by middlemen and intermediaries. The agitation will be
launched from Kapurthala and Bathinda on August 10;
Patiala on August 12; Jalandhar on August 13; Chubhal
(Amritsar) on August 15; Nawanshahr on August 17; and
Chandigarh and Ambala on August 18, among others. |
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Ahmadiya chief's address AMRITSAR, Aug 3 — Mr Sadat Ahmad Javed, press secretary of the Ahmadiya community in India, in a press note, said that last night in a worldwide telecast of his second day's address, the supreme spiritual head of the Ahmadiya community, noted that the Ahmadiya community was engaged in extending medical services to the poor of the world. In Indonesia alone, over 90 free dispensaries were being run. The Koran had been published in 52 languages of the world while it was in the process of being published in 20 more languages. Ahmadiya youths in the
United Kingdom had distributed food and medicines worth
over £ 25,000 among the poor. |
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Punjabi University results PATIALA, Aug 3 — The
results of MA Part I (Dance), MA Parts I & II (Fine
Arts), MA Parts I and II, Defence Studies, Gyani and B.Ed
Part I will be declared tomorrow, according to an
official press note of Punjabi University here today. Forest staff stage dharna CHANDIGARH, Aug 3 — Members of the Punjab Non-Gazetted Forest Officers Union staged a dharna in support of their demands here today. Employees from all over the state as well leaders from Haryana and Himachal also took part. The agitators were joined by members of the state's Forest Rangers Union and deputy rangers. Mr Jagdeep Singh Dhillon, President of the union, decried the "autocratic and egoistic" functioning of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF). He urged the state government to intervene and put an end to the feeling of insecurity among employees. Mr Randhir Singh Chakkal, general secretary of the union, condemned the police of the PCCF to call certain self-styled leaders for talks. He said no efforts to nab the murderers of forest guard Sant Ram, were being made. He added that if the
officer concerned was not removed the union would be
forced to intensify its agitation. |
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30 schools without principals FEROZEPORE, Aug 3 — As many as 30 government senior secondary schools, out of a total of 53 in this district, are without principals. Stating this here today, Mr Ishar Singh Chadha, Punjab Education Department Ministerial Staff (Sub-offices) Association, Punjab, said three posts of Deputy DEOs were also vacant. He said the matter had
been brought up with the Deputy Commissioner who said he
would write to the Secretary, Education, in this regard. |
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2 crushed to death by train KHANNA, Aug 3 — Two girl students were crushed to death by a train at the railway station here today. According to information, some students were crossing the railway tracks when the incident happened. The girls have been
identified as Minakshi and Rina. 6 councillors quit panels From Our Correspondent MALERKOTLA, Aug 3 — Six councillors of the local Municipal Council have resigned from its newly constituted subcommittees. Those who have quit include Mr Rakesh Sharma (house tax), Mr Mohammed Saddique and Mr Kewal Jindal (finance), Mrs Sabri Gill and Mr Mohammed Salim (works subcommittee). These councillors have alleged that they were not consulted by the president while constituting the committees. The Municipal Council
presidents, while confirming the resignations maintained
that at a meeting held on June 24, he was authorised by
the Municipal Councillors to constitute the
subcommittees. Accordingly, he constituted four
subcommittees. |
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Need to promote theatre
stressed PATIALA, Aug 3 — Girls must be imparted vocational training in order to make them self-reliant, said Mr Naresh Saini, an educationist, while presiding over a Punjabi drama, "Ahimsa Parmo Dharma", presented by the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS) at Latore village to commemorate the golden jubilee of India's Independence. Mr Gurdeep Singh, sarpanch and social worker, stressed on the need for promoting theatre. Earlier, the 10-show
theatre festival was inaugurated at Panjoli Kalan village
as a concluding part of NTAS' year-long state-wise
theatre campaign. |
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