Saturday, October 24, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Saturday, October 24, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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AC market
site Campaigning
picks Lok
Pal for good |
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 New purchase centres of
little use to farmers
Punjab
to sell onions cheaper through Punsup |
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Postal
awards presented Steps
to meet loan advance target CPM
wants Jhabal SHO suspended Board
move on quality education Medical
staff sans salary for 4 months Akali
leader joins Congress |
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AC market site breeds disease BATHINDA : The local Red Cross Society seems to have started playing havoc with the health of residents of this town as the site for the first air-conditioned market on the Mall road has become a breeding ground for germs of various water-borne diseases. Known for its insanitation throughout the country, the authorities concerned never bothered to make this town worth living. The stinking low-lying areas, choked sewerage, unplanned development and abandoned schemes bear testimony to official indifference. To take benefit of ever-expanding business in this south-western district of Punjab, the Red Cross Society decided to construct an air-conditioned shopping complex on the Mall road on a piece of land belonging to the Education Department. The project could not be started due to some legal complications between the Red Cross Society and the Education Department which have not been cleared so far. However, in anticipation of the project's clearance, the Red Cross Society dug up the land for constructing the basement portion of three-storey complex and pillars were also erected. For the past two years, the site has become a dumping ground for garbage. It has also become a haunt for stray animals. The recent rains had filled the dug-up portion of the market. In absence of any attention paid by the Red Cross Society to dewatering the site of the air-conditioned market, it has become a breeding ground for germs. The stink that emanates from it is a nuisance to students of the Government Primary School located adjacent to it. Mr Dharam Singh, Secretary of the Red Cross Society, while talking to TNS said Rs 7 lakh had been spent by the society on erecting pillars about five years ago at the site even though the land was not transferred to the society by the Education Department. He said though the department had agreed in transferring the land to the society, there were some minor formalities which were yet to be fulfilled by the department. He said that previous map of the shopping complex would be changed and a new architect had been engaged from Ludhiana for preparing a new map. He added that a number of shops would be reduced and a basement would be reserved for parking. He said offices of
District Education Officer (Secondary and Primary) would
be constructed on the third floor of the complex as per
the condition laid down by the department. |
Campaigning picks up in Adampur JALANDHAR, Oct 23 — With nearly all political parties naming their candidates for the Adampur bye election scheduled on November 25, hectic electioneering has started with nearly all state political party presidents either camping in or having toured this semi-rural constituency. The Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), SAD (Amritsar) SAD (Badal) the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress have announced their party nominees and launched their campaigns. The lone woman candidate fielded by the BSP Mrs Vidwant Kaur quit the Congress on October 3 to join the BSP. The multi-cornered contest is expected to witness some hard campaigning as the outcome could play a determining factor in the future of political parties in the state. SAD president and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has visited this constituency thrice with his entourage already and has held open darbars with the administration. He was in Jalandhar, yesterday to pacify dissidents. The family of the late Mr Sarup Singh is sore at being denied the party ticket and the SGPC chief Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra's protege Mr Sarabjit Singh Variana has been ignored for the second time. The Congress, under the new PPC chief Capt Amarinder Singh is also not without "problems". Five veteran Congress leaders of this area are unhappy with the choice of Mr Kanwaljit Singh Lalli as the party candidate. According to party sources these five Ch Darshan Singh, Dr Lekh Raj, and three former Members of Parliament. Mr Umrao Singh, Mr Balbir Singh and Mr Iqbal Singh did not attend a meeting called at Patiala recently to decide the candidate for the Adampur seat. The CPI has a sizeable following in this constituency, but the party has still to name its candidate or an alliance. According to its state secretary, Joginder Dyal however, the Jalandhar unit of the CPI has urged the state leadership that comrade Kulwant be fielded as the party candidate. The contestants thus far
are Ms Vidwant Kaur (BSP), Mr Anoop Singh Minhas (SAD)
(Amritsar), Mr Jeewan Singh (SAD) (Democratic), Mr Dalbir
Singh Dhirowal SAD (Badal) and Mr Kanwaljit Singh Lalli
(Congress). |
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Punjab,
UT staff to hold rallies in Adampur CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Joint Action Committee of Punjab and UT Employees will hold rallies in the Adampur constituency, where a byelection is scheduled to be held in protest against the announcement by the state's Finance Minister that no bonus would be paid to the employees. A rally was held in Sector 17 today where employees raised slogans against the state government and the announcement which had dashed the hopes of the employees. The protesters said they had been agitating on the issue for long for their just and genuine demand. Employee leaders while criticising the government said that the grant of bonus was one of the electoral promises made by the present government. Besides rallies at district headquarters, a state-level rally would also be staged in Chandigarh on October 26. A black flag march on October 28 and a gherao of residences of the Punjab ministers would be carried out on October 31. Rallies in front of various directorates would also be held in the city on November 18 while another state-level rally would be staged here on December 8. The agitators later burnt photocopies of the statement of the Finance Minister. Besides bonus, the demands
of the protesters include promotion after four, nine and
14 years of service, regularisation of the services of
daily wagers and an enhancement in uniform and other
allowances. |
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New purchase centres of little use to
farmers PATIALA, Oct 23 — Many procurement centres opened in the rural area to help farmers in the state are proving to be of little use to them. The three-day spell of rain starting on October 15 shattered the myth that high number of procurement centres would help the farmers as they would not have to travel to far-off places to mandis to sell paddy. The government had increased the number of procurement centres by 400 this year as compared to last year. However these very procurement centres resulted in causing heavy loss to farmers despite these being close to their villages. The kutcha ground coupled with low levels in many cases besides poor service roads and no shelter facilities ensured that the farmers were not able to do anything to save paddy when the rains came. The centres also became veritable ponds which resulted in the germinating of paddy and turning it black. A quick visit of several mandis in this district revealed that the farmers were, by and large, unhappy with the facilities provided by the Mandi Board in small mandis earlier. They said various new centres opened now had no facilitywhich had resulted in chaos when the rains came. They said various new procurement centres did not have proper fans to dry paddy nor any pump to draw out accuemulated water. The Federation of Arhatias Association of Punjab has alleged that the government increased the number of Centres despite the widespread damage caused to paddy by rains in kutcha mandis in September last year to appease farmers. Its president Bal Krishan Singla said the federation had protested against the proliferation of procurement centres last year also and had been assured that care would be taken in this regard this year but this did not happen. Mr Singla said at present there were a total of 1450 procurement centres in the state of which at least 650 centres were without a cemented plinth. He said besides this other facilities like power fans as well as tarpaulin were not available at most centres. He said it was because of these reasons that the federation had requested the government to upgrade the facilities in the present centres before opening any more centres. He said after the damage caused to paddy by rain last year the government should have ensured that kutcha procurement centres were no longer situated on low grounds. He said care should also have been taken to provide drainage of water at small mandis as most of the mandis had faced problems, in draining out water through pumps installed there. Mr Singla also urged for an end to the opening of procurement centres on political considerations. He said there were cases of procurement centres being opened close to each other due to political considerations. He alleged the entire exercise had been made a farce with there being a few cases where two procurement centres were opened in a single village. The federation president
also demanded that the demand for the relaxation of
specifications should not be met under political
pressure. He said already there were huge stocks of paddy
lying in the state which not being accepted by other
states due to their poor quality vis a vis the produce of
other states. He said if the specifications were relaxed
for the limited paddy to be procured now, the entire
Punjab paddy would be branded as sub-standard. He urged
that only some compensation be paid to those bringingup
paddy to the market after October 21 |
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Film music in hospital! SAS NAGAR, Oct 23 — High-pitched film music going on inside a civil hospital? Yes, it was so today and one wondered whether one was entering a hospital or a mela venue. Right at the entrance of the hospital building, around 11.30 a.m. one could witness a puppet show in progress. Although, children were enjoying themselves, sick persons found the loud music on a stereo system a nuisance and a few doctors said they found it difficult to work. On enquiry, the pupeteer produced a copy of a letter to the hospital CMO from the Centre indicating that Mohan Lal Bhatt and party of Bapu Dham colony had been authorised to present programmes from October 21 to 30 to create awareness among the public about diseases like malaria, dengue diarrhoea, their prevention and cure and other related health problems. The programme, in fact,
began today instead of October 21 as the stereo system
was out of order. |
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Lok Pal for good of all: Judge LUDHIANA, Oct 23 — Mr Justice G.C. Garg of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today said that the institution of Lok Pal created by the Punjab Government was necessary and in the interest of all concerned. In an interview with Tribune News Service here, Mr Justice Garg said the appointment of Justice Harbans Singh Rai as the Punjab Lok Pal had the necessary approval of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. "Therefore, I do not think there is anything wrong with the appointment." Mr Justice Garg, however, had certain reservations about the procedure laid down for the Lok Pal for processing complaints against public men. "Why should the sittings of the Lok Pal be held in camera?" he asked. "Since we are for transparency in the functioning of the government and the judiciary, who should it not be there for the Lok Pal?" he said. Mr Justice Garg was of the view that no harm would be done to the complainant or the accused if the hearings of the Lok Pal were held in the open. As regards the adverse publicity, he pointed out that it was a hazard which was faced by everyone in a court of law. He noted that under the provisions of the Lok Pal Act, the report of the Lok Pal to the Governor had to be acted upon within three months. He was not aware if there was any provision dealing with a situation which might arise if the Governor or the government took no action on it. However, he steered clear of the controversy surrounding the credentials of Justice Harbans Singh Rai. Meanwhile, Mr Justice Garg concluded his two-day inspection of the judicial complexes of Ludhiana district during which he interacted with judicial officers and members of the Bar Association. He said that during his visit he had apprised himself of the problems of the judicial officers and lawyers, besides considering ways and means of ensuring speedy disposal of cases. The total number of criminal and civil cases pending in Jagraon, Khanna and Samrala subdivisions was about 8,500. Of these, 3100 each were in Samrala and Jagraon and about 2300 in Khanna. However, in Ludhiana, the number was 33,500. Most of these were civil suits relating to disputes over money and property. He expressed the hope that with the cooperation of all concerned, the number would go down by about 5,000 by April. He was of the opinion that in the disposal of cases by judicial officers, influence of the litigants did not matter. "There may be a wrong decision: there may be an incorrect interpretation of the law, but influence does not play any role", he asserted. During his visit to Ludhiana district, he had not come across any complaint about any deviant behaviour on part of a judicial officer. Mr Justice Garg said that since the beginning of 1995, the high court had taken steps to ensure speedy disposal of pending cases. "The results have not
been dramatic but a beginning has been made. No judicial
officer now has more than 1500 files with him against
3500 files before 1995," he said. |
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Postal awards presented CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — As many as eight postal employees were honoured with Dak Seva Awards by Col Tilak Raj (retd), Chief Postmaster General, Punjab Circle, at a function here today. Colonel Tilak Raj said that the Punjab circle with a network of 3915 post offices was serving a population of over two crores in Punjab and Chandigarh. In 1997-98, 14 post offices had been modernised in the circle, taking the number of such post offices to 41, he claimed. With a view to providing new customer services to meet specific customer needs, two VSAT stations had been set up at Ludhiana and Jalandhar. He said 30 more stations had been linked with these stations through modem tele-link. Cash transfer through money order service by satellite had already been provided to 75 cities across the country from these centres. He stated that two post offices and 15 extra-departmental branch offices would be opened in the circle in the current financial year. The employees who have received the award are, Mr Sarwan Singh, Mr Darshan Lal, Mr Bachna Ram, Mr Jethu Singh, Mr JS Saggu, Mr NC Marwah, Mr CP Sharma and Mr Jaspal Singh. Besides them winners in the stamp design competition, organised by the department as part of Postal Week, were also given prizes. While Triman Singh Bhullar was given the first prize in the junior age group, Kartikeya Raman and Sonika were given the second and third prizes, respectively. In the senior age group,
Nancy Anand, Yuvraj Singh and Deepa Seth were awarded the
first, second and third prizes, respectively. |
Punjab
to sell onions cheaper through Punsup ROPAR, Oct 23 — Following the Delhi government, the Punjab government will provide onions at cheaper price to people in a fortnight after completing formalities in this regard. This was stated by Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Supplies Minister, Punjab, while talking to reporters after inaugurating a blood donation camp, organised by the local S.S. Jain Sabha and the Lions Club Chandigarh Central, here today. The Minister said that he had asked the Chairman of PUNSUP to seek permission from the Central Government for purchasing onions from abroad. He said, once the state government got permission, it would not waste any time for importing it. Mr Mittal assured that distributers of onions through PUNSUP would start soon. He could not explain what would be the "low price" of onions. The onions are selling in the state for Rs 50 a kg while the Delhi government has been selling it there for Rs 10 a kg. The minister denied the rice millers had been given upper hand in the procurement of paddy by the state government. He said that a total of 61,81,950 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had, so far, been procured in the state by government agencies and traders. He added that state agencies and the FCI had, so far, procured more than 35 lakh tonnes of paddy while the rice millers and traders had procured 26.49 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. Mr Mittal said that he will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow to discuss various matters. He also said that a central team, had come to assess the loss of paddy crop in the state, had studied the damaged crop lying in the markets and standing in the field. The team would submit its report and then any final decision over the relief would be taken by the Centre. On the recent controversy over the inclusion of 'Saraswati Vandana' in the programme of three-day conference of Education Ministers, Mr Mittal said that 'Saraswati Vandana' did not promote Hinduism. He also said that Saraswati was the goddess of education, so without 'saraswati' there could be no education. He also said that without 'Saraswati Vandana' India would not remain India. Mr Mittal alleged that those who had been opposing 'Saraswati Vandana', they wanted to weaken the country and divide the same on communal lines. Mr Mittal said that BJP had been heading towards 'Indianisation' while some parties were opposing its agenda in the name of RSS agenda. He described the agenda of the BJP as secular agenda in true sense. Mr Mittal also announced a
grant of Rs 21,000 for the development of S.S. Jain
Sabha's Homoeopathic dispensary. |
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Steps
to meet loan advance target LUDHIANA, Oct 23 — Banks will be computerised so that the target of loan advance of Rs 765 crore, under the annual credit plan of the district can be achieved in time. Directions in this regard have been issued by Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner to representatives of banks and officers of government agencies at a meeting of the District Consultative Committee held here today. The Deputy Commissioner asked the RBI and Nabard representatives to evolve linkages between banks, beneficiaries and government development schemes. He said during the first quarter ending on June 30, loans amounting to Rs 190 crore had been disbursed which constituted over 25 per cent of the plan. He said the beneficiaries
were being identified by organising camps at rural focal
points. |
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Student
killed in road mishap SAS NAGAR, Oct 23 — A 19-year-old student was killed when the scooter he was driving was involved in an accident with a bus here last evening. Deepak Kumar, a resident of Chandigarh's Sector 38, died on the spot when the Punjab Roadways bus hit his vehicle in Phase II. The body was taken to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The police said the bus
driver, Nachhatar Singh had been arrested and a case
registered. |
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Bank
manager found dead in car AMRITSAR, Oct 23 — The branch manager of the Oriental Bank of Commerce here Mr Naresh Mahajan, (44) was found dead in his own car yesterday according to eyewitness account the body of Mr Mahajan was found on the back seat of the car covered with car mats with no visible marks on the body. The car with his body in it was found abandoned at a desolate place near a hotel under construction in the Ranjit Avenue area at 3 pm. A police spokesman said that Mr Mahajan had left the branch in the Putlighar area at 11.30 am, after informing his officer at the bank that he would be away for a while. Later his body was found in his car which was locked with both number plates missing. At the time of filing the report, the police was unable to make any headway into the case while awaiting autopsy report. Death of Mr Mahajan sent
shock waves in banking and business circle here. |
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Suspects'
bail plea rejected CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr SS Lamba, today rejected the applications moved by four suspects in the Burail jail blow-up conspiracy case for bail. The suspects are Satnam Singh, Baljit Singh, Jaswant Singh and Balvinder Singh. Mr Lamba had already rejected the bail application moved by Jaspal Singh Dhillon, another suspect in the case. The bail applications moved by Sitla Prashad Mishra, a former Assistant Jail Superintendent of Burail jail, and constable Jaswinder Singh, were dismissed as withdrawn. Meanwhile, Mr DS Rajput, a local lawyer, moved an application in the court of Mr Lamba, urging for summoning records of the local telephones department. He stated in the application that he wanted to inspect this record for the purpose of ascertaining the names of persons who had used the mobile phone he was charged with supplying to suspects lodged in Burail jail. He added in the
application that he would like to crossexamine all those
persons who had used this telephone. |
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Punjab
postings CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Punjab Government today ordered the transfer of one IAS and seven PCS officers. Mr Anurag Verma, an IAS officer, has been posted as Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) at Amritsar and Mr Baljit Singh has been appointed as additional Deputy Commissioner there. Mr Krishan Chand has been appointed SDM at Talwandi Sabo and Mr Inder Yash Bhatti goes to Mansa as SDM and Mr H.S. Sandhu has been posted as SDM at Rampura Phul. Mr Surinder Kumar has been
transferred to Budhlada as SDM. Mr T.K. Goyal has been
posted as Administrative Officer in the office of DPI
(Primary) and Mr Jaspal Mittal has been posted as Estate
Officer, PUDA at Ludhiana. |
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Department
action
against three officers CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Punjab Government has launched departmental proceedings against Dr V.K. Bassi, Civil Surgeon of Ferozepore district, Mr M.S. Lall, Executive Engineer of the Sewerage Board, and Mr Prithi Chand, Executive Officer of the Municipal Committee, Ferozepore, according to an official press note here today. Action against them has been taken following reports of insects in drinking water. The government has also ordered transfer of Mr H.L. Khurana, Superintending Engineer, Mr N.K. Aggarwal, SDO, and Mr Baljit Singh, a junior engineer and an Xen of the Punjab Health System Corporation, allegedly due to supervisory lapses at one of the sites in Ropar district. A warning has been given
to all officers engaged in construction activities in
Punjab to ensure quality as per the specifications. |
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CPM
wants Jhabal SHO suspended AMRITSAR, Oct 23 — Mr Mangat Ram Pasla, a central committee member of the CPM, representatives of the Association of Democratic Rights and leaders of the Mazdoor Dal sought the suspension of Mr Devinder Singh, SHO, Jhabal, for alleged excesses committed by him on CPM workers at Jhabal on October 1. The leaders, who addressed the rally at Jhabal, 30 km from here, said that the agitation would continue till the suspension of the SHO. Among those who addressed
the rally included Mr Rattan Singh Randhawa, district
secretary, CPM, and Mr Vijay Mishra, a state committee
member of the Mazdoor Dal. |
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Board move on quality education CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Punjab School Education Board has initiated a pilot project related to school-based inservice value education and training of teachers for quality education and professional growth in the state. A press note of the board
said here today that to begin with, heads of 20 schools
of Patiala, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur
districts will meet at Atam Public Senior Secondary
School, Ludhiana, on October 24. |
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Akali
leader joins Congress CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — Mr Manjinder Singh Behla, an Akali leader and former Parliamentary Secretary, today joined the Congress Party. This was announced here by Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, at a press conference. Mr Behla was elected on the Akali party ticket to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1967, 1969 and 1977. Capt Amarinder Singh said that as Mr Parkash Singh Badal had failed to provide an effective and clean government, Akali leaders had started quiting the Akali Dal. He said that the candidate put up by the BSP for the Adampur byelection was an unfortunate development as it amounted to an indirect support to the ruling party in the state. He appealed to the BSP leadership to withdraw its candidate from the contest and support the Congress Party candidate as in the last election the party had got the second place in the election. He had a dig at Capt
Kanwaljit Singh, Punjab Finance Minister and Mr Badal,
Punjab Chief Minister, for defending the Lok Dal. Capt
Amarinder Singh said that both Capt Kanwaljit Singh and
Mr Badal were acting as spokesmen of the Lok Pal and it
had justified what was said by him (Capt Amarinder Singh)
about the Lok Pal and Mr Badal. |
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Medical staff sans salary for 4
months FAZILKA , Oct 23 — The staff of the civil dispensary in the slum area of Abohar comprising medical officer, pharmacists, health workers and class IV employees have not been paid salary for the past four months. The Finance Department has not granted sanction to these posts due to which these employees are facing financial problem. Mr Ravinder Luthra,
General Secretary, Punjab Pharmacists Association ,
Ferozepore district, and Mr Shashikant , Senior
Vice-President of the All-Employees Coordination
Committee, here have urged the Punjab Government to
release the salaries of the affected employees. |
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CMO
denies charge MANSA, Oct 23 — Dr Rameshwar Chander, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Civil Hospital, today denied that Maggar Singh, a freedom fighter, was not given proper treatment in the hospital. In a press note issued here, he said Maggar Singh was discharged from the hospital only after he had recovered completely and there was no need to conduct fresh tests as the earlier tests were normal. He said the post-mortem
examination was conducted by three doctors and the report
would be ready within a week. |
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