Monday, August 24, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, August 24, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Rs 2,000
crore sought for development works Congress
to oppose bid to demoralise cops
Punjab's
directive to excise staff |
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 New
rent Bill: Punjab may delay notification 'Need
to modernise rural hospitals'
Panel
to probe turbine jamming |
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Emulate Sobha Singh,
artists told BKU
for review of farm operations PM
to inaugurate training project Judicial
work of ADJ withdrawn 2
held for duping people 5
plantation company men held Man
'beaten to death' in police custody Punsup
examinees "harassed" Trust
in memory of Punjabi writer Probe
sought into yatra tragedy 2
die as scooter, truck collide Bitta
alerted 20
towns to get piped water supply Principals'
meeting postponed Newspaper
bundles burnt |
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Rs 2,000 crore sought for
development works FARIDKOT, Aug 23 — The Punjab Government has approached the Centre for the release of bonds worth Rs 2,000 crore to monitor development projects in the state. This was stated by Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, Union Minister of State for Industries, while talking to mediapersons at Panj Graian village today. Mr Badal said the state government was facing financial crisis and several development works had been lying unattended. He promised to impress upon the Union government to accept the proposal of the state government in the interest of the country and the Punjabis who had played a key role in the development of the country. Mr Badal said various nationalised banks and HUDCO had already agreed to advance loans worth Rs 1200 crore to the state government to streamline its programmes. The Union Minister, who was on a three-day tour to the district, said Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal was keen to promote foodgrains industry. Mr Badal also inaugurated a carpet and dari weaving unit for women in the age group of 17 to 35 years in the village. UNI adds: Mr Sukhbir Singh
Badal on Sunday assured financial assistance from the
Centre to the Punjab Government for setting up of
tubewells in rural areas in the district where people are
facing shortage of drinking water. A large number of rural people had approached Mr Badal on Saturday, when he visited Golewal village in the district, and brought to his notice their plight due to non-availability of drinking water. PTI adds from Moga: Union Minister of State for Industry Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Sunday that a regional centre of Panjab University would be set up at Muktsar which would at later stages be converted into a university in the educationally-backward area of the state. Addressing a rural gathering at Pangrain village in Faridkot district after laying the foundation stone of Rs 10 lakh rural stadium, Rs 40 lakh storm water channel and Rs 7 lakh community centre, Mr Badal said the state government had given top priority to education sector. The setting up of Baba Farid Medical Research University at Faridkot was a step towards that direction he added. Mr Badal said a private
educational society from South India had agreed to set up
an engineering college shortly at Moga, for which survey
had already been carried out. |
New rent Bill: Punjab may
delay notification CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — An early resolution of the age-old tussle between owners and tenants is ruled out if the "consensus" reached in the Punjab Cabinet subcommittee on the issue is any indication. The President of India gave his assent to the Punjab Rent Bill, 1995, in March, 1998. There being no "legal obligation" or "time bar" on issuing a formal notification before the Bill becomes an Act, the state government seems to be in no hurry to notify the same. Till that time, the existing East Punjab Rent Restriction Act, 1949, will remain in force. Reliable sources told TNS that the Cabinet subcommittee had taken the view that the Punjab Rent Act, framed on the pattern of the Centre's "model" rent control legislation, was inappropriate. Any hasty notification would not be in the interest of the people. The sources said more than anything else it was a question of vote bank. The junior partner in the coalition government, the BJP, is certainly sceptical as to how the tenants will react. There is an impression, erroneous or otherwise, that unlike the existing Act, the new rent Act is loaded in favour of the owners. Therefore, the Cabinet subcommittee is reported to have suggested that the existing Act of 1949 should be suitably amended incorporating into it some of the provisions of the rent Act (1995) to balance the same. Once these amendments have been carried out, the same be placed before the Vidhan Sabha. This means postponement of the notification on the Punjab Rent Bill indefinitely or at least till the next session of the Vidhan Sabha. In fact Punjab, like Delhi, is caught in a piquant situation on the notification of the rent Act. There are arguments for and against the issuing of a notification. The Delhi Government has not yet issued a notification on the Delhi Rent Control (Amendment) Act, 1995. That too has received the President's assent. Now the Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to clarify within two weeks whether it was going to notify the Act or not. There is a standing committee of Parliament on the issue since the government had referred the Act back to Parliament. In the petition, Mr H.D. Shourie of the consumer cause has said: "The government is subverting democracy by suggesting an amendment even before the notification is issued after the President gave his assent to the Bill in 1995." Counsel for the Delhi Pradesh House Owners Association, Mr Pardeep Gupta, has contended that as per the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court rulings, the high court had the powers to direct the government to issue a notification forthwith. Punjab seems to have followed the same analogy: making amendments in the Bill after the President gave the assent and before it is notified. Sources TNS talked to at different levels said there were anomalies in the existing Act. It was also obsolete and certain angularities had to be rounded off. On the other hand, the Act could trigger adverse consequences on housing as an essential activity. It would hurt the sentiments and the government could not afford to bear the fallout. "In fact no state has so far issued any notification on the new or amended rent Acts". It is pertinent to point out that often the same politicians who were present in the house at a given point of time when such Bills were passed, later opposed the same when it came to implementation on the premise that the same was rushed through and the Treasury Benches did not give sufficient time for the proper study, discussion and debate. The same set of politicians while sitting on the Treasury Benches later gave the same treatment to their own pieces of legislation despite opposition protest. Something similar had happened in the case of the rent Act as well, sources said. Thus what is on the anvil is political amalgamation or synthesis of the existing or operational Act and the one waiting notification. The new Act has more exemptions than applications, sources say. Having bungled on the octroi issue and kicked up a row on hike in power tariff (only to be drastically reduced later) naturally the SAD-BJP combine wants a detailed study of the political implications because urban population in Punjab is close to 38 per cent. A school of thought, however, says that given the race and rush for getting to the cities once the rent Act is notified, as approved by the President, it will generate housing activity as well encourage commercial investment with real estate showing signs of growing rapidly. Till political clouds
clear, the proposed Punjab Rent Act, 1995, will remain an
irritant between the tenants and owners. |
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Congress to oppose bid to demoralise cops JALANDHAR, Aug 23 (PTI) — The Congress today said terrorism in Punjab was controlled with the help of the police and the party would oppose any efforts to demoralise the force through self-styled probe agencies like the People's Commission formed by the World Sikh Council. "We have been in the forefront of the fight against terrorism in which the then Chief Minister Beant Singh made the supreme sacrifice. How can we allow any effort which aims at demoralising the police force?" vice-president of the party's state unit Santosh Chawdhary told reporters here. She said the party was gearing itself to lead the struggle against the "oppressive" Akali Dal-BJP regime which had "failed" to live up to the people's expectations. Taking objection to the People's Commission hearings in gurdwaras, Mr Iqbal Singh, general secretary of the PPCC and former Rajya Sabha member, said the venue selected by the probe panel, ostensibly formed to investigate human violations during the militancy period, revealed its "anti-police and communal bias." He said the PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh, would soon make a detailed statement about the party's stand on the issue. He questioned the
nomenclature of the council saying a forum of the same
name had been formed in 1974 under the aegis of the
International Punjabi Society. "I have myself
attended gatherings of that forum in Britain, Canada, the
USA and Germany. Even former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
had addressed a council convention in New Delhi in
1984," he said. |
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'Need to modernise rural
hospitals' PATIALA, Aug 23 — The Public Works Minister of Punjab, Mr Harmel Singh, here today expressed the hope that genuine demands of medical teachers would be accepted soon. Speaking at the concluding session of the three-day 12th annual conference of the North Zone Ophthalmological Society of India at Government Medical College here, Mr Harmel Singh said modern medical equipment should be made available in rural hospitals also. Dr D.C. Bansal, a renowned eye surgeon of Patiala, on behalf of Patiala eye surgeons, thanked the delegates and demanded that phaco-surgery equipment should be made available in Rajindra Hospital. Dr R.S. Gill, organising secretary of the conference, said 350 delegates from five states had participated in the three-day conference. Meanwhile, Dr R.K. Grewal was installed the new president of the North Zone Ophthalmological Society. She underlined the need for group practice among young ophthalmologists in view of the high cost of equipment. She also stressed the need of preventive aspect of ophthalmology. Padamshree Dr Dhanwant Singh, who was the chief guest at the installation ceremony, stressed the need for community ophthalmology and said more eye camps should be organised. Dr R.S. Gill, organising secretary of the conference, said there was urgent need to modernise eye camps to provide facilities like intra-ocular implants to the patients at their doorsteps. Phaco-surgery (stitchless
surgery of the eye) was shown live to over 100 delegates
on the occasion by Dr Harbans Lal of Sir Ganga Ram
Hospital, New Delhi. |
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Government college lacks
infrastructure AMRITSAR, Aug 23 — The local Government College for Boys has been opened in a building which lacks basic infrastructure. Though the college has admitted more than 140 students for B.A. and B.Com till Sunday the class rooms have neither chairs nor tables. The indefinite strike by college teachers, has come as a 'blessing in disguise' for the newly-established college. The building, which is part of the deaf and dumb school being run by the district Red Cross Society, was earlier occupied by mentally retarded students. It was approved by a high-level team constituted by the state government. As many as six lecturers have been transferred from well-established colleges against the newly-created posts. At least three posts of lecturers of important subjects are still lying vacant. The faculty members have borrowed some chairs and a table from the management of the deaf and dumb school. The building has only seven rooms. One room will be converted into Principal's room, one into staff room, one will be kept for the ministerial staff and another for physical education. Library will be set up in another room. Only two rooms will be left for holding classes. The decision to open a government college for boys was taken in "undue" haste as Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, Minister for Higher Education, it is alleged, had made it prestige issue as one of his colleagues was opposed to the move. It may be mentioned here that there are only three boys college in Amritsar, including Khalsa College, DAV College and Hindu College, all in the private sector. All four MLAs had promised
the electorate to open a government college in Amritsar
if they were voted to power. According to sources, a
high-level meeting met under the chairmanship of Chief
Minister on July 13 in which the Education Minister and
Finance Minister also participated. The Chief Minister
had given a green signal to start the college at this
meeting. |
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Punjab's directive to excise staff FARIDKOT, Aug 23— The Punjab Government has issued orders to the field staff of the Excise and Taxation Department to conduct a survey to bring unregistered traders in the sales tax net. Official sources said the
orders had been issued by the state government to
generate more revenue to meet the target fixed for the
current financial year. The letter said the Chief Minister would hold a meeting with the officials concerned in this regard in Chandigarh on August 24. However, the letter has caused resentment among the field staff. Talking to this reporter on condition of anonymity, some of the employees said while on the one hand the state government had warned them, on the other they incurred the displeasure of their "political masters" whenever they caught sales tax evaders. They said whenever traders attacked them physically while raiding any business premises, they were never protected by the authorities. Instead they were pulled up by the state government whenever any false complaint was lodged against them by any trader. The government was also giving various concessions to the traders which had a direct bearing on revenue collection. They apprehended victimisation of the field staff. Mr R.D. Gupta, press secretary, Punjab Pardesh Beopar Mandal said that by issuing the letters, the Punjab government was resorting to economic terrorism. He demanded that the state
government should find out the reasons for the shortfall
in the revenue collections and then revamp the system. |
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Panel to probe turbine jamming LEHRA MOHABBAT, Aug 23 — Even as the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP) authorities have closed the first unit following the jamming of a turbine on August 14 morning, it is estimated that the Punjab State Electricity Board's losses may total more than Rs 100 crore. Sources said the GHTP authorities, which had closed the unit for at least three months, had not assessed the losses so far. They said the plant would suffer a loss of Rs 1 crore daily due to the stoppage of generation. Apart from this, the loss due to the jamming of the turbine could be more than Rs 10 crore. Mr T.L. Paika, Chief Engineer, GHTP, today said the turbine was being dismantled. A team of BHEL engineers from Hardwar would reach the plant by Wednesday. Different components of the turbine would be shifted to Hardwar for the necessary repairs and replacement. He said a committee comprising the Chief Engineer (Enforcement), the Chief Engineer (Thermal Design) and a senior representative of BHEL, New Delhi, had been constituted for probing the turbine jamming incident. The panel would also assess the losses. It would take into consideration the findings of two committees constituted earlier by the PSEB authorities to probe oil leakage and fire in boiler incidents. The police was looking into the sabotage aspect. It was also investigating whether 12 persons of a private company which had been given the turbine maintenance contract were responsible for any negligence. Mr Paika said as per the initial information, the bearing chambers and the turbine rotors had suffered minor damage. He said as the first unit
would not be able to generate power for months together,
the GHTP authorities had shifted the focus to the second
unit. They were making efforts to begin commercial
generation by September 30. |
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Cruelty towards animals : two held LUDHIANA: In what must be the first case of its type in Punjab in recent years, the local police has arrested two persons on a charge of cruelty to animals. A case under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, has also been registered. ASI Manohar Lal of Police Station Div No. 2, Ludhiana, took the action suo motu against Rohit Kumar and Vidya Sagar who were transporting about 50 hens in a rickshaw last week in an extremely cruel manner. They were bunched together in a small space and their legs tied up in such a fashion that 14 birds died soon after they were taken to the police station on the first day either because of suffocation or due to some disease. Another six birds died the next day. The accused were presented before duty magistrate, Mr Harjit Singh, and then in the court of Mr J.S. Bhinder, Judicial Magistrate, First Class. One accused was granted bail while the other was sent to judicial custody. The case has served to highlight the widespread problem of cruelty to animals in Ludhiana and elsewhere in the state. The police action has delighted the local chapter of People for Animals (PFA), a voluntary body which is headed by Mrs Maneka Gandhi at the national level, and has been struggling for some time past in the megacity to create awareness among the public and the authorities about the need to treat the animals in a more humane fashion. "What is remarkable in this case is that the police officer took the action against the offenders on his own" says Dr Sandeep K. Jain, who is in charge of the Ludhiana chapter of the people for Animals. "Normally, we have to struggle to get a case registered against the offenders. We are happy to note that the authorities are finally beginning to wake up to the problem". He estimates that there are about 20,000 stray animals in Ludhiana. These include horses, mules, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, buffaloes and cows. They pose a serious threat to health of its citizens besides being a hazard to the road users. The Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana which is beset with a host of problems and struggling hard to stay afloat financially, has little time and energy to spare for the stray cattle. It has a small cattle pond at Haibowal but this too is ill-kept. The problem of stray cattle has been compounded by the roadside slaughterhouses in the city where animals are slaughtered in full view of the public in most unhygienic conditions and served as food. Although these slaughter houses can be found in any part of the city, most of them are situated at Sherpur, Basti Jodhewal, Haibowal, Samrala Road, near CMC, Dugri Road, and BRS Nagar. Dr Jain says killing of birds and animals in the open is violative of the municipal laws, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Environment Protection Act, 1986, Water Pollution Control Act, 1974, and several other laws. He says public awareness about the relevant laws is minimal. Rule 5 of the Punjab Municipal Act says "No person shall slaughter or can be permitted to slaughter at any place other than a public slaughter house, any animal, the flesh of which may be used as human food". Rule 9 of the same Act says "a person shall not slaughter in a slaughterhouse, any animal in view of another animal". However, these rules
continue to be violated with impunity. But the PFA is
confident that sooner or later, it will succeed in
creating the necessary public awareness which will allow
the animals to live and die with dignity. |
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Emulate Sobha Singh, artists told LUDHIANA, Aug 23 — To observe the 12th death anniversary of renowned artist Sardar Sobha Singh, a state-level painting competition of school-children was organised by the Sobha Singh Memorial Foundation in collaboration with the Fine Art and Photography Club at Punjab Agriculture University, yesterday. Mr Mahesh Inder Singh, Grewal, Minister for Medical Education, Environment and Science and Technology Punjab, distributed the prizes to the winners. Addressing the function, Mr Grewal said Sobha Singh was not just an artist but an institution in himself. He said the budding artists should learn from his creations and strive to improve their art to achieve excellence. Mr Grewal said the youth enlightened with art and imagination could help carve a harmonious society. Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana. exhorted the educational organisations to lay stress on providing adequate training of art and culture to the students. Mr Harjit Singh Bedi, Chairman of the foundation, said artist Kuljit Singh will be honoured with Sobha Singh Memorial Award on his 98th birth anniversary celebrations at Gurdaspur on November 29. Sant Hajura Singh of Rara Sahib, Prof Mohinder Singh Cheema, Prof Gurbhajan Gill and Mr T.P.S.Sandhu also addressed the function. In the printing competition for Class IX and Class X students Sonjit Kaur of Shivalik Public School, Dhuri, won the first prize, Tilwinder Kaur of Government Girls High School, Ram Garh (Ludhiana), got the second prize and Punam Singh of New High School, Ludhiana was third. Parvinder Kaur of Tagore Public School, Ludhiana, won first position, Nilam Sharma finished second and Harpreet Kaur of Nankana Sahib was declared third in the competition for Class VI to Class VIII students.
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BKU for review of farm
operations PATIALA, Aug 23 — Speakers at a seminar on "problems which lead to farmers committing suicide" organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) were of the view that the profit margin for farmers should be increased as they were not able to cope up with the rising inflation and increased rates of agricultural inputs. Delivering the keynote address, Dr Suchha Singh Gill, Head, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, said cooperatives should be established to achieve the task of linking agriculture with industry. He said processing units which could process wheat and paddy besides other agriculture produce, should be run by cooperatives of the farmers at the village-level. Dr Gill said though the Punjab Government had been advocating diversification in agriculture, farmers could not go in for new crops unless the government announced support prices for the same. He said the government did not have any policy on how it would market the new crops. This, he said, could have serious repercussions and would solve the problems of farmers. Dr Gill said there was a need to review the farm operations. He said while the rates of produce were fixed by the government, the rates of inputs like fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural machinery were fixed by private companies. This put farmers in a disadvantage. Dr Gill wanted the kisan organisations to provide statistics of suicides as there has not been any systematic study of the issue. He, however, said loans should not be waived as they would send a wrong signal adding that the recovery could be postponed and part of the interest could be waived. The People's Action Committee president, Dr Dalbir Singh Deb, said certain farmers had committed suicide in the Barnala area. He said studies showed that as many as 60 per cent of the farmers took loans from arhtias who charged varying rates of interests. There were around six lakh farmers who had less than five acre of land and earned an average of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per month as compared to a class IV government servant who took home Rs 5,000 per month. He said even in the case of farmers engaged in allied activity like dairy farming, there was a huge gap between what was paid to the farmers and what the consumer had to pay. BKU (Ekta) general secretary Gurmeet Singh Dittapur said farmers had been fooled into believing that the Green Revolution would help them. He said instead, the fertiliser and pesticide companies were the beneficiaries. BKU (Ekta) president
Pashora Singh said it was wrong to say that farmers were
coming under debt because they were spending more on
luxuries of life |
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PM to inaugurate training project BATHINDA, Aug 23 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will inaugurate a rural employment training project at Kaljharanin village in Bathinda district on November 1, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal told PTI. Mr Badal said the project, the first of its kind in Punjab would give vocational training to youth in various disciplines to enable them to start self-employment ventures. The Chief Minister said
his government would carve out a separate department
which would look after the training of rural youth and
ensure that they began their own ventures. |
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Judicial work of ADJ withdrawn SANGRUR, Aug 23 (PTI) — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has withdrawn judicial work from Mr J.R. Singha, First Additional District and Sessions Judge, and abolished his court following discovery of some irregularities, court sources said. On the instructions of the High Court, the District and Sessions Judge (Sangrur), Mr D.S. Chhina, designated Mr J.P. Mehmi, Mr D.K. Monga and Mr S.S. Hundal as the first, second and third Additional Sessions Judges with immediate effect, the sources said. Meanwhile, 39 cases out of 76 were disposed of by the six teams of lok adalats under the chairmanship of Mr Chhina in the judicial court complex. Rs 23,65,000 were
disbursed among the parties as compensation during the
disposal of cases under the Motor Accident Claims
Tribunal, The Hindu Marriage Act and land reference
cases. |
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Ambulance without petrol KHANNA, Aug 23 (FOC) — "Our ambulance has no petrol", was the stock reply of a policeman when he received a distress call about an accident that had occurred near a police first-aid post and mobile van service, especially made to help accident victims. Mr Surinder Kumar Thekedar was injured in a car accident and Mr Sewa Singh called up the police post for an ambulance, about 200 m from the first-aid post. As the ambulance did not have petrol no policeman came to the rescue of the hurt. Later, some persons took
Mr Thekedar to a hospital. |
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2 held for duping people JALANDHAR, Aug 23 (PTI) — The police here today said it has arrested two travel agents for allegedly duping several people of Rs 11.39 lakh by promising to send them to Dubai for jobs. The accused, Balbir Singh and Gagan, arrested last week by the economic offences wing of the police, are currently in judicial custody, Senior Superintendent of Police P.S. Gill said in a statement here. Gill also claimed to have busted a gang of cheats by arresting five persons, all hailing from Bihar, who had duped scores of people by claiming to represent a fictitious company and collected large sums from them. All the five, who claimed
to have been working for Jiwan Jyoti Plantation here,
were remanded to police custody till August 25, Mr Gill
added. |
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5 plantation company men held JALANDHAR, Aug 23 (UNI) — Five men, all migrants from Bihar and working for a local plantation company, have been arrested on the charge of cheating public of over Rs 6 lakh. The police today identified the accused as Anil Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Arvind Kumar and Abhey Kumar Dubey. A police spokesman said the accused confessed during interrogation that they had been collecting deposits for Jiwan Jyoti Plantation by tempting people with one-and-half time annual return. The spokesman said the conspiracy to cheat the public was hatched by the company directors and shareholders but the directors had absconded. However, the
accused had been remanded to police custody till August
25 for further interrogation after a case under Sections
406, 420 , and 120-B of the IPC was registered against
them on August 21. |
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Man 'beaten to death' in
police custody TARN TARAN, Aug 23 — Karnail Singh (60), a resident of Jagatpur village, falling under Chabal police station, died today in police custody. The Chabal police has registered a case under sections 365, 342 and 305 of the IPC against Avtar Singh, Santokh Singh (both ASI's), four members of a wine contractor's party and two other persons in this connection. A police party had reportedly raided the house of Karnail Singh to seize illicit liquor. Police sources said Karnail Singh died a natural death, while his family members said that Karnail was beaten to death. The body was sent for a
post-mortem in the local Civil Hospital. |
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Punsup examinees
"harassed" SAS NAGAR, Aug 23 — Candidates appearing in tests for various posts in Punsup here today complained against poor arrangements which caused them harassment. The candidates, who came from various parts of Punjab, for the tests at Shivalik Public School, Phase VI, said in some cases roll number slips were received just two or three days prior to the date of the examinations. Besides, they were asked to fill in the application forms on the spot and provide an attested photograph each with a demand draft for Rs 100. These requirements were not intimated to them earlier, they said. A department official at
the venue said all examinees at the test centre had come
through employment exchanges. He said Rs 100 in cash had
been accepted and time given to them to provide the
photographs. |
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Trust in memory of Punjabi
writer ROPAR, Aug 23 — A trust in memory of Navtej Puadhi, a noted Punjabi writer and a member of the National Commission for Backward Classes, will be set up soon under the patronage of Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, a former Union Minister. This was announced by Mr Narinder Sitta, Honorary Secretary of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, at the bhog ceremony of Puadhi at Bheora village 4 km from here this afternoon. Navtej Puadhi died of heart attack on August 16 last at Chandigarh. Mr Sitta said a fair "puadh mela" would also be organised every year in memory of Navtej Puadhi to pay tributes to the author. Mr Ramoowalia, Mr Narinder
Sitta and Mr Jagmit Brar, criticised the Punjab
Government for not giving state honour to Navtej Puadhi. |
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Probe sought into yatra tragedy AMRITSAR, Aug 23 — All-India Hindu Shiv Sena president Surinder Kumar Billa has demanded a high-level probe into the Malpa tragedy in which at least 60 pilgrims apart from other persons were killed. In a communication to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Billa said it was a matter of concern that a large number of persons were killed even though the pilgrimage was organised by the Indian Government. He demanded adequate
compensation to kin of the deceased. |
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2 die as scooter, truck collide GURDASPUR, Aug 23 — Two persons killed and one was seriously injured when their scooter collided with a truck on the GT road in front of Dinanagar police station yesterday. The deceased were identified as Davinder Singh and Des Raj. The injured, Subhash Chander, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The driver of the truck
was arrested and a case under Sections 304-A, 279, 331
and 427 of the IPC registered against him. |
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Bitta alerted AMRITSAR, Aug 23 — Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, a former president of the Indian Youth Congress, has been asked by intelligence agencies to restrict his programmes in view of renewed threats by Punjab militants and ISI agents. The Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Security), Delhi, in a message to Mr Bitta said that the intelligence agencies had received reports regarding fresh threats to the former Youth Congress chief's life. A letter from an Additional DGP, Punjab police, said the Babbar Khalsa was making renewed attempts to target Mr Bitta. The letter further said that Mr Bitta was also under threat from some other militant organisations. The Punjab police chief,
Mr P.C. Dogra, has already stated that the ISI had
stepped up its efforts to create disturbances in the
country, especially in Punjab, and was looking for
specific targets. |
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20 towns to get piped water supply SANGRUR, Aug 23 — Mr Sat Pal Mahajan, chairman, Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Punjab, said here today that 20 towns in the state with a population of less than 20000 would be provided piped drinking water at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore. The money had been provided by the Centre for the purpose and had been received by the board, added Mr Mahajan. Work on the project would be started in October. The towns included
Khanauri, Cheema and Dirba in Sangrur district, Sujanpur
Dinanagar, Fatehgarh Churian and Dera Baba Nanak in
Gurdaspur district, Jandiala, Majitha and Khem Karan in
Amritsar district and Makku in Ferozepur district, stated
Mr Mahajan. |
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Principals' meeting postponed AMRITSAR, Aug 23 — A meeting of college principals which was scheduled to be held tomorrow has been postponed, according to Dr S.P. Singh, Dean, College Development Council of Guru Nanak Dev University. A science exhibition to be organised by the Human Genetics Department on August 26 had also been postponed keeping in view the ongoing strike by the university and college teachers. The new dates of the
meeting and the exhibition would be announced later. |
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Newspaper bundles burnt PHAGWARA, Aug 23 (PTI) — Four bundles of newspapers were found burnt at the local Phagwara-Banga road chowk on GT road early this morning. The bundles contained the Indian Express and Desh Sewak newspapers of English and Punjabi published from Chandigarh. When a newspaper agent came to collect the bundles at around 4.15 a.m., he found them aflame and extinguished the fire, thus saving piles of other bundles of newspapers from catching fire. The cause of fire could
not be ascertained. |
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Plea to set up medical council PHAGWARA, Aug 23 — The action committee of the legal cell of the Punjab unit of the IMA has regretted that no step has been taken to constitute the Punjab Medical Council. In a letter to Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Medical Education Minister, Punjab, the committee said despite an assurance given by it to an IMA delegation in this regard on April 28, no action had been taken so far. It demanded immediate
formation of the council. |
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Miscreants kill 2 of family MOGA, Aug 23 (UNI) — Two members of a family were killed and eight others injured by a group of miscreants who attacked them at their residence in Dharamkot, 15 km from here, last night. According to the police, the assailants armed with sharp-edged weapons entered the house of Amar Singh. They started beating up the family members, killing Amar Singh and his sister-in-law Jasbir Kaur on the spot and seriously injuring his brother Ajmer Singh, his daughter Jagdish Kaur and nephew Manjinder Singh. They later entered another house in the area and beat up its occupants. They also injured two farm workers while escaping. Five of the injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital here, while three were admitted in Zira hospital, the police said. In a similar incident one person was killed and 12 others injured in Ghal Kalan village yesterday. According to Moga SSP
Bhushan Garg, the police has rounded up about 50 persons,
most of them belonging to jhuggi jhopri clusters in and
around the area in this connection. |
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Demand to lift ban on promotions CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — The Punjab State General Categories Welfare Federation yesterday held a rally at Phillaur, the constituency of Mr Swaran Singh, Welfare Minister. Addressing the rally, Mr Shyam Lal Sharma, president of the federation, criticised the government for its failure to remove the ban on promotions despite assurances given by the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister. Mr Sharma said the
committee constituted for this purpose by the Chief
Minister had already approved the implementation of the
decision in the Ajit Singh Janjua case but in order to
delay the matter, the government had now constituted a
Cabinet subcommittee. He warned the Punjab Government of
dire consequences if it failed to implement the decision. |
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Gang of criminals busted LUDHIANA, Aug 23 — The Ludhiana police has nabbed a gang of criminals with its leader Kranti Kumar along with four accomplices named Naulakha Chaurasia, Sarwan Kumar, Mohd Feroze, alias Mohindru and Ganesh alias Kalia. They were caught from the Subhash Nagar area where they were planning to strike. According to the police, the gang was operating from the Ludhiana railway station area. Two .12 bore revolvers
with 4 live cartridges and 3 daggers were seized from the
gang members. |
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Truckers block traffic PHAGWARA, Aug 23 — Truck drivers blocked traffic on the G T Road at Phagwara-Banga Chowk yesterday in protest against the impounding of a truck for the non-payment of "rahdari". The truck which was impounded on the Hoshiarpur road was being brought here when the truckers blocked the traffic. The blockade was lifted at
the intervention of the administration. |
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Assault flayed PHAGWARA, Aug 23 — Bahujan Samaj Morcha chief and MP Satnam Singh Kainth yesterday condemned the assault on Mr P S Pasi, national president, All-India Anti-Corruption Forum. In a statement here, he demanded immediate arrest of the assailants. In separate statements, Congress leader and former minister Joginder Singh Maan and Mr Ashok Sandhu, district president of the BSP, also flayed the attack on Mr Pasi. They criticised the delay
in the arrest of the culprits. Mr Pasi was seriously
injured when six persons attacked him a few days ago
inside his PCO near Bhullarai village. |
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