Thursday, October 8, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Thursday, October 8, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Hoshiarpur
to get OCB 283 exchange Sonia
likely to meet riot-hit Badal
"must quit" on moral grounds |
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 Abducted girl rescued, 1
held Waterlogging
hits cotton, paddy crop |
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Gas
leak incident: team visits factory Billa
seeks CJI's intervention More
sops for units in rural focal points Bahujan
morcha to hold rally at Patiala Postal
week from October 9 Couple
dies of burns |
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Hoshiarpur to get OCB 283 exchange HOSHIARPUR, Oct 7 — The existing equipped capacity of Hoshiarpur secondary switching area will be increased from 44,000 to 75,000 lines by March 1999. As many as 22,000 new telephone connections will be released to make the total working connections cross the 60,000 mark. Mr Mohan Lal, who recently took over as General Manager, Telecom Hoshiarpur, while talking to this correspondent here today said with the installation of 10,000 lines of OCB 283, the latest technology exchange, the telephone connections at Hoshiarpur would be given on demand. He said out of these 10,000 lines a 4,000-line telephone exchange would be installed in the new telecom building at Hoshiarpur, 4,000 lines of RSU exchange in a rented building at Parbhat Chowk and the remaining 2,000-line RSU exchange would be installed at Bulhowal. The capacity of the existing C-DoT exchange at Mahilpur would be increased from 1,000 lines to 2,500 and Tanda Urmar from 2,500 to 3,000 lines. The capacity of Garhshanker and Balachaur exchanges would be increased from 1,400 lines to 2,600. The existing 1,000-line exchange at Mukerian will be replaced by a 4,000-line C-DoT main exchange. The capacity of three exchanges at Garhdiwala, Miani and Kot Fatuhi would also be increased to 1,400 lines. Mr Mohan Lal said the capacity of other exchanges at Hariana, Bagpur Sataur, Pojjoditta, Rajpur Bhaian, Sham Chaurasi, Saila Khurd, Bhangala, Garna Sahib, Kandhala Jattan, Khudda, Jahan Khelan and Hazipur was likely to be increased to 1,000 lines. Besides, the capacity of Jallowal, Kotla Naudh Singh, Mehtiana, Mona Kalan, Binewal, Moranwali, Nangal Kalan, Panam Rampur Bilron, Sarhala Kalan, Amroha, Baja Chak, Budhawar, Chak Bhamon, Datarpur, Ghorga, Mansoorpur, Tanda Ram Sahai, Bhunga, Cholang, Janauri, Jahal, Talwandi Jatta, Talwandi Sallan, Bachauri, Kathgarh, Bohan, Mehmowal, Sandhra, Jaijon Doab, Badla, Bhambotar, Kamahi Devi, Bhanowal, Makhupur and Mehatpur Oladni was also proposed to be increased. The General Manager said
the existing media between various exchanges was being
replaced by the latest reliable media like UHF and OFC.
The waiting list at most of the exchanges was likely to
be cleared by March 31, 1999. The morning alarm call
waiting and dynamic STD lock facilities were being
provided in Hoshiarpur. |
Abducted girl rescued, 1 held BATHINDA, Oct 7 — In a swift action, the local police rescued a teenaged girl, Bonny, who was allegedly abducted by Nikhil, a son of Mr Rakesh Kant Syal, Managing Director-cum-Chairman of Golden Forest Limited, and his friend Rahul last evening from the busy Bhagu road within one and a half hour of the incident. A police party led by Mr M.S. Chhina, SP (Detective), on getting information gave a hot chase to the abductors and overpowered Nikhil near Gill Kalan village when he was speeding towards Chandigarh. Rahul, however, managed to escape. Police sources said Bonny was abducted from the Bhagu road while she was standing outside a photostat shop. She was dragged into the car by Nikhil and Rahul when her father Ajaypal and uncle Ranjit Sood were standing nearby. Bonny had came along with her family members to meet her relatives here yesterday. The police succeeded in overpowering the accused as he could not locate the road that led to Chandigarh. The accused roamed in the city for an hour after committing the crime. Nikhil and Rahul after abducting Bonny went towards the cantonment area. However, they were refused entry into the area. Then they came back on the Bhagu road and on seeing the police they sped away. The vehicle, an Opel Astra, first hit a Dhaba on the roadside. The police sources said Nikhil drove the vehicle at a very high speed and hit many barriers on the way before he was overpowered near Gill Kalan village. Mr Harnek Singh, SSP, while addressing a press conference today said the car involved in the crime had been seized and an air gun, crackers, Rs 9000 in cash and a mobile phone had been seized. He said 18-year-old Nikhil during interrogation confessed he was a student of plus one in DAV College, Chandigarh. He said a case under
Sections 363 and 366 had been registered against Nikhil
and Rahul in the city police station. The police had also
launched a massive hunt for nabbing Rahul, he added. |
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Sonia likely to meet riot-hit AMRITSAR, Oct 7 — In a bid to blunt criticism by the Shiromani Akali Dal, Ms Sonia Gandhi, president, Indian National Congress, is likely to meet victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots during her proposed visit to Amritsar on October 10, according to sources. This could help the Congress woo back the Sikhs for the elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and the Adampur seat in Punjab. The Punjab Pradesh Congress (I) is trying to cash on the proposed visit of Mrs Gandhi to rejuvenate its cadres after the party’s humiliating defeat in the state in the previous General Election. This will be the first visit by member of the Gandhi family to Punjab after the anti-Sikh riots and Operation Bluestar. Ms Sonia Gandhi had already expressed "regret" over Operation Bluestar during a Congress rally at Chandigarh. The Congress leadership is
busy arranging for a meeting of the riot-hit with Ms
Sonia Gandhi.
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Badal "must quit" on
moral grounds CHANDIGARH, Oct 7 — Dr Joginder Dayal, Secretary of the Punjab State Council of the CPI, has sought the resignation of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on moral grounds as well as for his alleged failure to deliver the goods. Addressing a press conference here today, Dr Dayal said that following allegations made by the Advocate-General, Mr G.S. Grewal, who resigned three days ago, Mr Badal had lost the right to continue as Chief Minister of the State. He said that Mr Grewal had clearly stated that the State Government led by Mr Badal was protecting corrupt bureaucrats and corruption was dominating in the state. He said that Mr Grewal was a choice of Mr Badal and when a person like Mr Grewal was indicting the government with regard to protecting corrupt bureaucrats, there was no need of any other proof or holding an inquiry as far as the allegations of corruption against the popular government were concerned. Using very strong language, Dr Dayal said that in fact, Mr Grewal's resignation was a slap on the face of the Punjab government which had promised to provide a clean administration and Mr Badal had won a massive mandate on this issue in the last Vidhan Sabha election. Levelling very serious allegation against certain family members of Mr Badal, Dr Dayal said that money was exchanging hands for making fresh recruitment in government departments. He said that lists of persons to be recruited by the government were finalised by certain family members of Mr Badal. Dr Dayal said the Punjab government should stay away from the Anandpur Sahib project as the government should have nothing to do with religious matters. He said the Anandpur Sahib project was the job of the SGPC and it should be the SGPC's business to deal with all "Khalsa heritage" projects. Under the Constitution, the government was a secular entity and it should behave as per the spirit of Constitution, he added. Dr Dayal said that the issue of Udham Singh Nagar had been deliberately raised by the SAD-led government in Punjab as it had failed on all other fronts. The issue as being flared up to divert the attention of the people from the "poor performance" of the State government, he added. He said that his party was in favour of putting a common candidate by Opposition parties for the Adampur Vidhan Sabha byelection. He said the Congress party should come forward to put a common candidate to defeat the SAD-BJP candidate in the Adampur election. Dr Dayal said that CPI
would start a mass agitation from October 12 by observing
the day as anti-price rise day in the state. On October
12, rallies, demonstrations and dharnas would be
organised at the sub-division and district headquarters.
The party would organise "Padyatra" in all
districts from November 1 to 14 to mobilise people
against communal forces and rising prices. A kisan rally
would be organised by the Punjab Kisan Sabha at Bathinda
on November 28 under the slogan "no suicides but
struggle". |
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Waterlogging hits cotton, paddy crop BATHINDA: Unprecedented heavy rain that has hit the region in the recent past has caused the paddy and cotton crop to rot. Paddy and cotton growers, who had spent a lot of money on the sowing and transplantation, are now spending huge amounts again to save their crops as their fields have been flooded and this has endangered the standing crops. The paddy growers tried every means available with them to drain out the rain water from their fields and to save their crop. In certain villages, the farmers even tied up their crops to save them from being sogged. The recent rain taken a heavy toll as the paddy crop in most of the area has been flattened by rain while the American bollworm has intensified its attack on the cotton crop after the rain. To check the spread of the bollworm, the farmers had ploughed their standing cotton crop in some pockets of the Malwa region comprising Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepore, Moga and Bathinda. According to experts, the production of cotton in Punjab would not cross seven lakh bales, attained last year. They say that first the American bollworm damaged the crop and then the untimely rain played havoc with it. At the beginning of the season, the cotton production target was fixed at 22 lakh bales. The farmers who had sowed expensive cotton seed could not save their crops from the bollworm attack as the market was flooded with the spurious insecticides and pesticides. The untimely rain in the last two weeks of September disturbed the spray schedule and rendered the early spraying of insecticides ineffective. The rain also caused great loss to the paddy crop, which was transplanted before the period recommended by Punjab Agriculture University experts. The experts are expecting a loss up to 15 per cent of the paddy crop. The area under the paddy crop had increased by more than one lakh hectares in Punjab due to farmers of Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepore area changing over to this crop as severe waterlogging had damaged their earlier crop. With their economy touching an ebb due to repeated crop failure and indifferent attitude of the authorities, the farmers have come under heavy debt and most of them are finding their "deliverance from debt" in death. In Punjab about 150 suicides by farmers have been reported so far. The farmers who have been
affected badly by man-made and natural disasters are
pinning their hopes on the state government as they are
expecting that the Badal Government, would announce a
reasonable compensation for the loss of their crop. |
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News Analysis CHANDIGARH: The outcome of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Working Committee meeting here on Tuesday was along predicted lines: it turned out to be an anti-climax in so far as the Udham Singh Nagar issue was concerned. Yet, in ways more than one, it showed that a storm of uncertainty is gathering within the SAD, which if allowed to grow and gather momentum may hit at the very foundation of the pedestal on which rests the edifice of SAD-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) "friendship". Fusillades fired at the meeting were numerous. These flew in different directions, giving enough indication of the intended target (s). There was sufficient hint that there are issues even beyond Udham Singh Nagar, which require immediate attention and correction at the hands of the leadership. Those who talk of Chief Minister and SAD President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal’s "calculated innocence" also perceive the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee President as a "willy politician", who is in a no-win situation at present given his temperament and training in religio-political affairs. The media has coined words like "moderate" for Mr Parkash Singh and "militant" for Mr Gurcharan Singh to describe their style of functioning and thought. Either by accident or design, the two, somehow have learnt to live with such labels. Moving deftly, Mr Parkash Singh, over a period of time, has succeeded in projecting the SAD as a party which is for "Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiat", thereby, making the party broad-based, much to the chagrin of those who are believed to practice "political extremism". This includes leaders like Mr Simranjit Singh Mann. In the process not only has the SAD got hooked to the BJP to send the "right" signals of "communal harmony and amity" across the country but also steal the limelight from Akali leaders, who are perceived to be more radical. Thus Mr Parkash Singh has clearly distanced himself from radical political exigencies and carved a niche in the national mainstream, which is beginning to accept the role of regional political parties when it comes to coalition governments and alliances in New Delhi. That leaves out men like Mr Gurcharan Singh, who after a long political innings will not do or appear to do anything which will reflect adversely on the SAD-led government in Chandigarh. There is no other political party with which he can align even if he were to try that out; not that he is trying to do so. He has no choice but to back the SAD government, which he does, albeit grudgingly. Nevertheless he is convinced that the central BJP leadership is neither "serious nor sincere" when it comes to dealing with demands and issues the SAD has raised from time to time. The BJP leaders have, on the other hand, chided the Akalis with ill-timed statements and inappropriate comments. The casual manner in which the charter of demands pertaining solely to the Sikhs and Punjab submitted by Mr Gurcharan Singh, without infringement on any other community, political party or state, to the Prime Minister on August 18 was "misplaced" in the PMO and he was asked to re-fax it after the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, persuaded him to visit Delhi for Wednesday’s talks has upset him. At the Working Committee he gave a long list of grievances ignored by the BJP and also the background why Udham Singh Nagar is important. His nearly 45-minute speech left many speechless and silenced a Minister who feared that any breakaway with the BJP will be "misconstrued" as Hindu-Sikh divide. The rumblings within the
SAD show all is not well. Factionalism is discernible
affecting in the process state administration. The
refrain at the meeting showed an upsurge of
dissatisfaction among the party cadre and disillusionment
with the bureaucracy, which remained unresponsive. The
growing cult of corruption, both at the political and
administrative levels, came under sharp attack. Wrong
decisions at the beginning of the term in February, 1997,
split the bureaucracy into "anti-Akali and
pro-Congress" camps. The divide continues, several
speakers pointed out. |
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Gas leak incident: team visits
factory PATIALA, Oct 7 — A three-member team of scientists from Punjabi University today visited the National Agro Chemicals Limited factory at Sangrur, 70 km from here, where a gas leak had taken place on October 3. The team comprising Dr O.P. Jasuja of the Forensic Science Department and Dr K.C. Kalia and Dr A.L.J. Rao of the Chemistry Department visited the factory following a request made by the Sangrur district administration to Punjabi University here. A team member disclosed the factory, like any other factory manufacturing pesticides, was using chlorine and tri methyl phosphite. He said overexposure to chlorine was harmful while tri methyl phosphite was very toxic. The team member also revealed the team had requested the district administration to call in experts from field of industrial safety who could clearly specify which gas had leaked and from where. Meanwhile, two employees of the factory, who had been reported missing after the mishap, have returned to their jobs. A senior district official disclosed he had been told by the factory proprietor that the employees may have missed duty due to some minor problem or the other. It had been alleged the two employees had been affected by the gas leak and had been hospitalised. The Bar Association today struck work demanding the factory should be shifted out of the municipal limits of Sangrur. The association also warned it would file a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court if their demand was not met. The association also demanded a case should be registered against the factory owner as criminal negligence had been committed by him. The anti-pollution committee formed by the Association of Democratic Rights has also handed over a memorandum to the district administration. Committee co-convener Kiranjit Sekhon has alleged the factory owners had shown the factory to be more than 7 km away from the city while it was not more than 1 km away from the city centre. Mr Sekhon also alleged the factory owners were not complying with the guidelines issued by the state pollution board. The memorandum has warned if order to shift the factory from its present site are not given within a week the committee will launch an agitation on the issue. In another significant step, some municipal committee members have also decided to move a resolution in the committee demanding the factory be shifted as a school, a milk plant and a residential colony are situated close to it. The Deputy Commissioner,
Mr Anirudh Tewari, when contacted said he would not like
to make any comment on the issue as a probe was on.
However, the Minister of State for Industries, Mr Suchha
Singh Langah, when questioned on the issue at a function
at Bhadson in Patiala district today said he was not
aware of the incident and would look into it only after
he got a report on it. |
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Billa seeks CJI's intervention AMRITSAR, Oct 7 — Mr Surinder Kumar Billa, president, All-India Hindu Shiv Sena, in a communication to the Chief Justice of India, has sought his intervention in banning the People's Commission. Mr Billa alleged that the constitution of the commission was aimed at undermining the authority of the judiciary. While a judicial system was running smoothly in the country, there was no need for a parallel system. He further said that the
commission had taken the step to book police officials
who had fought terrorism instead of taking action against
those who had killed police officials on duty. |
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More sops for units in rural
focal points PATIALA, Oct 7 — Mr Sucha Singh Langaha, Industries Minister, has said that units coming up at rural industrial focal points in the state will now be given a 30 per cent subsidy on fixed capital investment as against 20 per cent announced earlier. The minister made this announcement after inaugurating a multi paper mill at Bhadson village, 30 km from here. Besides, these units would be exempted from sales tax for 10 years for amounts calculated up to 300 per cent of the fixed capital investment. The units would also be exempted from the payment of electricity duty for five years. All these incentives were for units coming up within a periphery of half a kilometre of a rural industrial focal point. The minister announced the government had also decided to give a 33 per cent subsidy to rural youths who set up dairy farms in rural areas. The government would provide subsidised loans up to Rs 35 lakh for setting up milk plants in villages. Mr Pritam Singh, General
Manager, Industries, said 160 more small-scale units had
opened in this district. The number of large medium units
had also gone up to 112 from 105 during the past
financial year. |
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Bahujan morcha to hold rally at
Patiala CHANDIGARH, Oct 7 — The Bahujan Samaj Morcha, a Punjab based political organisation, has urged the BJP-led Central Government to give due representation to Scheduled castes in the Union Cabinet from members of Parliament elected from the northern states. A spokesman of the Morcha, Mr Paramjit Singh Kainth, said that the Morcha would organise a rally at Patiala on November 14 to press the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in this connection. The Morcha has Mr Satnam Singh Kainth as elected member of the Lok Sabha from Punjab. Mr Paramjit Singh said that weaker sections of Punjab should be given priority while giving jobs in government organisations and recruitment from other states in Punjab should be stopped immediately. He has urged Mr Parkash Singh Badal to take strict action against hoarders, tax evaders and profiteers. The Morcha leader said
that weaker sections of society were facing financial
hardships due to rising prices and no relief was being
provided to such communities. The Government should pay
due attention towards such sections of society, he added. |
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Postal week from October 9 JALANDHAR, Oct 7 — The National Postal week will be celebrated from October 9 in Punjab and Chandigarh to promote a customer-friendly image of the postal department. Briefing a press conference here today, Mr Tilak Raj, Chief Post Master-General, Punjab and Chandigarh, said two sub-post offices and 15 extra-departmental branches would be opened by March 31. During 1997-98, 14 post offices had been modernised and to provide new services, two V-Sat (very small aperture terminal) stations had been set up at Ludhiana and Jalandhar. He said the local area net
work (LAN) for savings bank in four head post offices had
been commissioned. |
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Couple dies of burns ABOHAR, Oct 7 — Kiran Bhatia (34) and her husband Surender Bhatia (38) succumbed to burns here yesterday. The incident reportedly took place when Kiran was performing a puja at their house near the general bus stand. Her husband sustained burns while trying to put out the flames. They died at the Nehru
Memorial Civil Hospital. |
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