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Tohra row over, says Amarinder
PATIALA, July 4 — Capt Amarinder Singh, new PPCC chief, said here today that the Nirankari controversy involving SGPC Chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and him had been closed following the verdict of the Akal Takht Jathedar in Mr Tohra's favour....

‘Fake’ computer centre
BARNALA, July 4 — The city police has found out a "fake computer centre" here which have been running Diploma in Computer Applications (DCA) and Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA) courses....

Night vigil committees formed
PATIALA, July 4 — Alarmed at the spate of armed robberies in the city during the last week and the realisation of police limitation in providing security to each and every household, young men of a number of colonies in the city have formed night vigil committees.....
Punjab state map
New political alignments on cards
BATHINDA, July 4 — With the appointment of Mr Amarinder Singh as President of the Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC), an era of new political alignments and equations in Punjab, particularly in the Malwa region, has started....

Ludhiana hikes octroi
LUDHIANA, July 4 — The Punjab Government has allowed the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to increase its octroi rates on electrical goods, vehicles, machinery, petrol, diesel, lubricating substances and cement....
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Tohra row over: Amarinder
From Our Correspondent
PATIALA, July 4 — Capt Amarinder Singh, new PPCC chief, said here today that the Nirankari controversy involving SGPC Chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and him had been closed following the verdict of the Akal Takht Jathedar in Mr Tohra's favour.
Breaking his silence over the issue, Capt Amarinder Singh said he fully respected the order of the Akal Takht Jathedar and ruled out questioning the verdict by putting it for discussion before the Sarbat Khalsa as demanded by some parties.
The Congress leader told a press conference that there was no alternative left with Akal Takht as Mr Tohra had denied his press statements stating that he had gone to Nirankaris for seeking votes. People of the city, he said, would however ask Mr Tohra about his statement on the issue, which was closed as far as he was concerned.
The Punjab Congress was united and there was no friction within the party, he said in response to a question that how he would took along the dissident group with him in his bid to rejuvenate the party.
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All other contenders for the post of the PPCC chief met me within an hour of my appointment and offered their sincere services to help the party, he said.
Among the first steps I would take to strengthen the organisational set-up would be to make village level and block level committee to give a boost to the party and its policies at the grassroots level, he remarked.
He said he would start a campaign shortly to inform the public about the failure of the SAD-BJP government.
The Congress, he said, was particularly concerned at the way the state government was handling issues like farmers' suicide, scarcity of water for drinking and irrigation, and shortage of power to rural areas.
Earlier, a hero's welcome was accorded to the newly-appointed to the PPCC chief at his arrival in the city.
He was taken in a procession through the walled city to the historic Quila Mubarak where he addressed party workers.
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  ‘Fake’ computer centre
Tribune News Service
BARNALA, July 4 — The city police has found out a "fake computer centre" here which have been running Diploma in Computer Applications (DCA) and Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA) courses.
Police sources said the racket of running of fake computer centre came to light when youths of the area made a complaint in this regard. In the complaint, youths of the area alleged that they had been cheated of thousands of rupees by the person who was running the computer centre.
It is the second case of fake professional institution which was detected in the past fortnight in this region. Earlier, an academy selling fake certificates of matric, plus two and graduation to youths in lieu of huge money was detected by the Bathinda police on June 23.
The police has registered a case under Section 420 and 511 of the IPC against Ravi Kumar, who was running the fake computer centre under the name of Chandigarh Computer Centre here and had collected lakhs of rupees from youths of the area for giving them diploma and postgraduate diploma certificates.
According to the FIR, students were admitted into the centre for DCA and PGDCA courses on the pretext that they would be given certificates of the Makhan Lal Chaturvedi University, Bhopal. Each student paid Rs 13,500 as a fee of the course.
The student suspected the validity of the centre when they were not asked for any migration certificate which was mandatory when a student changed from one university to another. Apart from it, the students were asked to appear for examination at Patiala instead of setting up examination centre locally as promised by those who ran the centre. They were asked to pay Rs 1200 for taking examination.
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When the matter was reported to the police, an investigation team inquired about the credentials of Makhan Lal Chaturvedi University from Punjabi University, Patiala, authorities and it was found that Makhan Lal Chaturvedi university did not figure in the recognised list of Association of Indian Universities.
It is learnt from the sources that a number of computer centre and other academies have been earning lakhs of rupees from innocent youths of the Malwa region comprising Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepore, Mukatsar, Moga and Patiala by running fake courses and selling fake certificates.
Mr Jagmohan Singh, Station House Officer, city kotwali, when contacted said further investigation were going in the fake computer case. No arrest had been made so far in this case.
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  New political alignments on cards
Tribune News Service
BATHINDA, July 4 — With the appointment of Mr Amarinder Singh as President of the Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC), an era of new political alignments and equations in Punjab, particularly in the Malwa region, has started.
Sources said that apart from the Congressmen, Akalis of the Malwa region too, considered as traditional stronghold of the Akalis, yesterday went to Mr Amarinder Singh to congratulate him on his new assignment. Some of the Akalis who did not want to expose themselves sent their emissaries to Mr Amarinder Singh.
Mr Amarinder Singh after taking charge of PPCC is certainly going to make a dent in the Akalis' camp in the Malwa region which comprises Mansa, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Moga, Muktsar and Ropar districts of Punjab as he wields a considerable influence in these areas.
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Mr Amarinder Singh who had contested two Assembly elections on the Akali ticket in the past commands considerable respect in the Sikh community because of resigning from Parliament against "Operation Bluestar".
Political sources said that Mr Amarinder Singh would cash in on the discontentment in the rank and file of the Akali leadership which is on the rise. Even the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had resorted to dinner diplomacy to keep MLAs in good humour.
Political sources further said that some SAD leaders and those of the Akali Dal (Amritsar) could join hands with Mr Amarinder Singh to reduce Mr Badal's influence in the region.
Though there is no immediate threat to Mr Badal from Mr Amarinder Singh but in the long run Mr Badal would have to face the deadly onslaught of combination of Mr Jagmeet Brar, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Mr Amarinder Singh in the Malwa region.
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Highly placed sources in the Akali party said that Mr Badal was trying to shift Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal to Bathinda parliamentary seat because Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal trailed the Congress candidate in the recently held parliament elections in four Assembly segments in the Faridkot constituency.
However, the elevation of Mr Amarinder Singh as PPCC chief who has considerable influence in the rural areas of this district may force Mr Badal to give a second thought to his proposed move to shift the constituency of his son from Faridkot to Bathinda.
It may be mentioned here that Akali rank and file was disappointed with the party leadership because of the fact that Mr Badal has so far failed to constitute district grievances committees, nominate members of the district planning board and appoint chairmen of Improvement Trusts and market committees.
The party rank and file was also angry over the repeated rehabilitation of some defeated leaders by Mr Badal with key political posts and other important assignments. Even the common worker was not happy with the functioning of the government.
On the other hand, Mr Amarinder Singh who knows all ins and outs of the Akali party as he remained in it for about 14 years is likely to woo those Akali leaders in favour of the Congress party in the Malwa region who have parted company with Mr Badal but have not joined any other party so far.
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  Night vigil committees formed
From Jupinderjit Singh
PATIALA, July 4 — Alarmed at the spate of armed robberies in the city during the last week and the realisation of police limitation in providing security to each and every household, young men of a number of colonies in the city have formed night vigil committees.
Reminiscent of nights a couple of years ago when a gang of kala kachchha wallahs had spread terror in these very localities along with some other places in the district, these young men arm themselves with iron rods, lathis and swords.
A list of male members from each household has been drafted and the date for duties allotted. These committees have been formed in almost all colonies in the outskirts of the city, especially in the Deep Nagar area, where the robbers killed a middle-aged woman before robbing her house. Reports from other outer colonies like Dasmesh Nagar, Anand Nagar, Rattan Nagar, Urban Estate, Tegh Bagh Colony revealed the masses have formed committees in order to lend a helping hand to the police in nabbing the robbers who don't hesitate in committing murder to decamp successfully with the money.
An undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the police for its failure to nab the culprits responsible for the robberies so far has also brought the people together to make a security cover.
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The committees have also set up their own intelligence network which keeps an eye on the persons visiting localities during day. The numbers of suspicious looking vehicles are also noted down. Members of some of these committees told this correspondent last night they had also decided on some signals to keep in touch with each other during the night operations.
In total, four serious robberies that left one woman dead and four seriously injured have been reported so far from this city.
The robberies have already brought about a change in these colonies. So fearful have the residents become that they no longer sleep outside now. Earlier, people used to lay charpais out in the open or on the terrace in order to have respite from the heat.
Some housewives said the robberies have proved to be a blessing in disguise. Men who used to come home late and consume liquor have shunned the practice at least for a while in order to be in a fit position to save their families from any attack.
The confidence of these men has been also boosted by the move of the district police to provide arms licences to these volunteers.
While the police has not yet been able to trace the persons responsible for the robberies yet no incident of robbery has been reported in the past 48 hours. It is also worthwhile to mention here the Director-General of Police, Punjab, Mr P.C. Dogra, also held a meeting with the district police officers a couple of days ago to chalk out a strategy to combat the robbery incidents which were giving a bad name to the police department.
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Mr Ashok Kanna, vice-president, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, congratulated Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh for presenting a "balanced" Budget for the financial year 1998-99. In a statement, Mr Khanna said given the constraints of a special category state, Mr Dhumal had tried to maintain the pace of overall development.
The president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Mr Rakesh Singha, has termed the Budget as anti-people particularly against the working class. The Budget is silent with respect to the workers engaged in industrial establishments and the unorganised sector which happens to engage the largest work force in Himachal Pradesh, he alleged.
The Chief Minister in order to appease the big industrialists and contractors has intentionally denied the enhancement of Rs 5 to the workers engaged under them. More over the BJP has backed out of its promise of increasing the wages to Rs 60 as was promised in the election manifesto, he alleged.
The CITU has declared that it would launch a statewide awareness campaign by observing July 14 as "anti-Budget" day by organising public meetings at different industrial centres.
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  Ludhiana hikes octroi
From Our Correspondent
LUDHIANA, July 4 — The Punjab Government has allowed the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to increase its octroi rates on electrical goods, vehicles, machinery, petrol, diesel, lubricating substances and cement, through a notification passed on July 2. This was made public in a press conference called by Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Mr Apinderjit Singh Grewal.
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, while passing its annual Budget for 1998-99, had unanimously urged the Punjab Government to revise the
Topoctroi rates in order to accommodate the new pay scales of its employees recommended by the Fourth Pay Commission. It was, however, decided not to increase the octroi rates on food items which would effect the poor.
Mr Grewal informed that as a result of this increase in octroi, the corporation would earn an additional Rs 15 crore annually, which would be used for the further development of the city.
However, the government has come under flak from different segments of the industry for raising the octroi and are threatening to launch a statewide agitation against this increase in octroi rates. Mr Harish Khanna, president of Industry and Trade Forum, Punjab, said this would adversely affect the trade and industry of Ludhiana which had been reeling under unprecedented recession.
The Textiles Joint Action Committee has also protested against the 4 per cent sales tax imposed on the textile and has requested the government to withdraw the proposal immediately as this tax on cloth and textile is nowhere in India.
The general secretary of Punjab Electro Federation has also demanded that the government takes back the octroi notification within seven days or the Pradesh Beopar Mandal along with its allies would start an agitation.
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