Wednesday, August 11, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Wednesday, August 11, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Punjab
Cong men a disappointed lot Lyngdoh fears use of liquor, money |
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Separate
religion, politics: Surjeet
Multicrore bank loan scam
unearthed This area tops in legalising wills ‘Dead’ inspector alive Eyewitness "not to
appear" in court Some fiscal relief for PAU Three die in shell explosion Part of marriage palace demolished Teachers not given salaries for 5
months "No salaries paid for 16
months" 4 more smugglers arrested |
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Allotment of ticket CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 — The process of filing nomination papers for the September Lok Sabha elections begins tomorrow. The last date is August 16. After scrutiny on August 19, the withdrawal is scheduled for August 21. The first to announce the candidates this time was the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal of Mr Parkash Singh Badal. At some interval, the BJP, its coalition partner, also renominated its sitting MPs from three Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. In between one saw the newly formed Front under the umbrella of Sarab Hind Shiromani Akali Dal led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra announcing its candidates or extending support to the ones put up by its constituents. This Front, in fact, is a conglomeration of several breakaway Akali factions and groups headed by individuals adhering to different ideologies. People are wary of the Front's postures. The last to make known the candidates is the Congress. Of the 13 Lok Sabha seats its candidates have been announced for nine seats, while two are yet to be announced, another two seats have been gifted to the CPI and the CPM — Bathinda and Sangrur, respectively. The former being a reserved constituency, the other reserved constituencies are Phillaur and Ropar. Although the ruling SAD-BJP combine is way ahead of its rivals in campaign trail the Congress, which seemed to be in a resurgent mode after the Adampur byelection in 1998, over a period of time lost ground and got mired in internal contradictions and conflict which is further reflected in the delay and dithering over the shortlisting of the candidates, though, it is fairly known now that the PPCC President, Mr Amarinder Singh, had a decisive say if not the last word. Congressmen from Punjab who had been camping at the New Delhi AICC office for weeks have started returning home. Some are disappointed while others are jubilant. Some had gone to try their luck many were there to make sure particular Congressmen did not get the ticket. From a cross-section of Congressmen TNS gathers that their exposure and experience during the stay in the Capital and having watched the AICC leadership from close quarters made them realise that factors other than "merit" and "service" to the party far outweigh in the selection of candidates than anything else. Even the "guidelines" for selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and the State assemblies elections issued by the AICC General Secretary, Mr Oscar Fernandes, MP, on July 20, apparently had been flouted with impunity while nominating candidates. Some of the Congressmen who visited the TNS office (they belonged to a Malwa region parliamentary constituency) felt "cheated over the way the ticket has been distributed". For instance "defeated" candidates have been renominated, "new" faces ignored just as "youth" and "women". Moreover these Congressmen talked in terms of neglect of "Hindu" and "Scheduled Caste" "minorities" who were aspirants for the ticket. One can spot "tainted" candidates as well as "relatives" having been nominated. All this contrary to the guidelines. Take Faridkot, where the Congress has put up Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar. He faces the SAD's Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, for the third time in a row. He (Brar) was defeated by Mr Sukhbir in 1996, 1998. In fact between 1977 and 1998 Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar contested six elections, both Assembly as well as Parliament, and got elected only once in 1992 to Parliament, at a time when the SAD had boycotted the election, from Faridkot. Take Hoshiarpur, the Congress candidate is Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, sitting MLA, who had successfully contested the Assembly poll in 1997 against his own mother, the "official" Congress candidate. With his moving to Hoshiarpur the entire support structure will move with him, thus, making things easy for the Bahujan Samaj Morcha candidate, Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, in Phillaur where he is having the support of the SAD-BJP combine. For Ropar (Reserved) the Congress candidate is Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, a former Excise and Taxation Minister in the Beant Singh Government. His name figures in the report of the Lok Pal to the Governor, Congressmen resent his nomination. The Jalandhar seat is undecided though the name of ex-Minister and ex-MP, Mr Umrao Singh, is making rounds. In Amritsar Mr Raghunandan Lal Bhatia has been renominated. Will rebel Mr O.P. Soni throw his hat in? If he does it will be tough for Mr Bhatia. Why cannot old guard be replaced by younger people?, ask Congressmen. In Tarn Taran Mr Gurinder Singh Kairon has got the ticket. His brother, Mr Surinder Singh, and nephew, Mr Adesh Partap Singh, SAD MLA, will oppose him. The controversy over Ludhiana seat and not considering any member from the family of late Mr Beant Singh and giving the ticket to former MP, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, is another irritant which rankles in the mind of Congressmen. Despite the fact that "relatives" are to be avoided, the wife of the PPCC President has been nominated from Patiala, she is Ms Parneet Kaur. This has already divided the Congressmen horizontally and vertically on that seat. The Ferozepore seat is yet to be decided, where Jakhars are plying a key role so is Mr H.S. Brar, a former Chief Minister. There is no denying the fact that the common refrain in politico-administrative circles was that given the visible and invisible cross-currents and under-currents against the establishment, the SAD-BJP combine, the voters will tilt to the Congress. But the Congress, as is its wont, refuses to learn any lessons from the past. So strong is the hold of the AICC that local leadership has neither vision nor sway over the selection or in Punjab as a whole. Each leader has only pockets of influence. Therefore the state Congress leadership and AICC nominees will spend more time trying to maintain "discipline" within the party rather than campaigning. Internal dissensions, ego-hassels and internicine war will prove to be the undoing of the Congress candidates. Between the Congress and the ruling SAD-BJP combine is the Front of Mr Tohra, buttressed by the SAD (Democratic) of Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala (contesting from Jalandhar), the SAD (Panthic) of Mr Jasbir Singh Rode (his brother, H.S. Rode contests from Faridkot), the SAD (Amritsar) of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann (contesting from Sangrur). The BKU (faction of Mr Bhupinder Singh Mann, contesting from Amritsar) and the BSP of Mr Kanshi Ram, whose candidates the Front supports in Hoshiarpur (Mr Harkesh Gujjar), Phillaur (Mr Avinash) and Ferozepore (Mr Mohan Singh Phallianwala). Congressmen are very succinct when they admit that dithering has cost the party dear in terms of loss of time as well as face in launching poll campaign. Besides it has affected the party's credibility among the Hindus and minorities, who feel totally let down. As the Congress is a house divided against itself and given the internal squabbles it remains to be seen how far the Congress leadership succeeds in keeping the party apparatus in operational readiness and functional in support of its official candidates. By and large, there will
be triangular contests in Punjab.The countdown begins
tomorrow. |
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Faridkot LS poll FARIDKOT, Aug 10 — The Election Commissioner, Mr J M Lyngdoh, today feared that liquor and money would be used on a large-scale in this constituency to woo voters during the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. Addressing a press conference here, he said the Election Commission would take all necessary steps to prevent any such thing. He pointed out that as Faridkot was an important constituency, all arrangements for a free and fair poll were being made. He said that the arrangements made so far by the local authorities were satisfactory. He said initially three observers would be appointed for this constituency with a directive to take stern action against anyone violating the poll code of conduct. He added that if need be, more observers would be appointed. When asked about a complaint filed by Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar regarding various code violations by government officials in the past elections, Mr Lyngdoh said Mr Brar had filed a writ in this regard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and he would not comment on it. He, however, said that he had come here to inquire into certain complaints regarding the violation of the code of conduct which the Election Commission had received in the past few days. Asked whether the commission would take any action regarding a rumour that certain musclemen from Haryana might indulge in booth-capturing in the Faridkot constituency, he said the commission was not aware of it. However, now he would look into it. Mrs Usha R. Sharma, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, who was accompanying the Election Commissioner said that supersensitive and sensitive booths here were yet to be identified. Earlier, Mr Lyngdoh held a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Barjindra Singh, the Commissioner, Faridkot division, the SSPs of Faridkot, Moga and Muktsar, and the DIGs, Faridkot and Ferozepore ranges. AMRITSAR: The Election Commissioner, Mr J.H. Lyngdoh, said here on Tuesday that during his two-day tour of Punjab and Haryana he had directed the district civil and police officials not to entertain the ministers till the election process was over. The EC has already put a ban on the use of official Sumo cars given to the MLAs by the Punjab Government. Answering questions about the polling taking place in Jammu and Kashmir in view of the large-scale terrorists activities after the Kargil conflict, the Election Commissioner said although they had made elaborate arrangements for holding the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, but if the situation deteriorated the commission may review the situation. The EC pointed out that the Punjab Government had assured that it would manage the poll without any additional forces. He said he had also directed the police and district administration to take preventive measures to ensure that petty criminals and other anti-social elements were not allowed to take law into their hands and disturb the elections in any way. He expressed satisfaction over the deployment of electronic voting machines. Talking about the elections in Bihar, he said it was the most difficult state. Earlier, the Election
Commissioner reviewed the poll arrangement with senior
state government officials at the Circuit House and also
addressed the district and police officers. |
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Partymen boycotting Praneet's
campaign PATIALA, Aug 10 — The Congress campaign, which was the last to start in this parliamentary constituency, is suffering from hiccups due to infighting as well as a boycott by senior party leaders. Though Mrs Praneet Kaur, the Congress nominee and wife of the Pradesh Congress President, Capt Amarinder Singh, had made a few forays into the constituency before announcement of her candidature, the party has not been able to build up the required tempo in her favour. Infighting erupted in the district unit of the party, two days back when there was a minor scuffle outside the DCC office. The DCC meeting also revealed inner factionalism with factional leaders taking opposite stands. However DCC (urban) chief Ved Prakash Gupta said the DCC meeting had passed off peacefully and there was full coordination among members to make Mrs Praneet Kaur's candidature successful. He, however, said a quarrel had taken place outside the DCC office between two opposite groups over some issue which had nothing to do with election coverage. But the slogan shouting during the inauguration of Mrs Praneet Kaur's office at Bahadurgarh near here yesterday was there for all to see. Supporters of former minister Jasjit Singh Randhawa and former DCC president Ujjagar Singh Narahu's granddaughter Balwinder Kaur shouted slogans against each other following which Mr Randhawa left the meeting but was later persuaded to come back. The trouble started when Mrs Praneet Kaur arrived early for the inauguration of the office. Mrs Balwinder Kaur and her supporters, including Mr Balwinder Singh Safdipur, were the only one to be present. When Mrs Praneet Kaur wished to go ahead with the inauguration, supporters of Mr Randhawa urged her to wait. Mrs Praneet Kaur, who could not be contacted as she was away to Samana today, is also suffering from the fact that senior party leaders are absent from her campaign. These include party ticket aspirants Surinder Singla, Sant Ram Singla, both former MPs, former minister Prem Gupta and party general secretary Bir Devinder Singh. Other important leaders absent from her campaign include former ministers Brahm Mohindra and Raj Khurana. Due to this Mrs Praneet Kaur is forced to campaign accomapnied by second rung leaders. A spokesman for the dissidents, when contacted, said they could not get involved in the campaigning for the party nominee as their support had not been solicited. He said the group could not do much as a few of its members were facing disciplinary action and their primary membership of the party was in danger. The situation is likely
to become clear after the return of the PPCC chief to the
city from Delhi. It is to be seen how the dissidents will
be tackled as most are reticent to campaign for the
Congress candidate and a few are also thinking of getting
deputed elsewhere as observers. |
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Separate religion, politics:
Surjeet SANGRUR, Aug 10 — Mr Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Secretary of the CPM has said the BJP and its allies represent communal forces and it is essential to defeat these forces in the Lok Sabha elections to preserve the unity and integrity of the country. Mr Surjeet was talking to reporters here yesterday. Only secularism and separation of religion from politics could keep the country united and ensure communal harmony in view of the diverse languages and cultures in various parts of the country, he said, adding that secularism represented the spirit of unity in diversity. He was endeavouring, he said, to strengthen the left forces with a view to defeat the communal forces led by the BJP. The interests of the minorities were not safe in the hands of the BJP as atrocities on them had increased during the BJP rule at the Centre and in different states, he said. Advocating the concept of giving more powers to the states, Mr Surjeet alleged that the BJP did not adhere to this concept which was essential to ensure proper development in all parts of the country. He attacked the BJP for a pro-USA till in its foreign policy which, he said, would harm the interests of the country. He alleged total failure on the economic front as unemployment and poverty had increased. He said his party would
support any secular government at the Centre after the
elections, but ruled out the possibility of joining that
government. Outside support would, however, be extended,
he added. |
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Badal’s uncle supports Brar BADAL, (Muktsar), Aug 10 — SAD President and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal suffered a setback in his village yesterday when his paternal uncle, Mr Teja Singh, along with other relatives, dissociated himself from the SAD campaign and formally announced support for the Congress candidate for the Faridkot constituency, Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar. Accusing Mr Badal of not respecting Akal Takht, Mr Teja Singh alleged that at Mr Badal’s behest maryada of Akal Takht had been violated. He told reporters that Mr Badal was dear to him and was like his own child. However, Akal Takht was supreme and Mr Badal was guilty of disrespecting it. He pointed out that the violation of maryada of Akal Takht was the biggest blunder of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, which had compelled even an old Akali leader like him to support the Congress candidate. While admitting that he had no soft corner for the Congress Mr Teja Singh, however, praised Mr Brar as the only genuine candidate. "Those who made sacrifices for the Panth were not only being ignored, but also not being shown due respect under the Badal regime," he alleged. Mr Teja Singh alleged
that charges of corruption were tarnishing the image of
the Badal family. |
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Janata Dal to contest 8 seats LUDHIANA, Aug 10 — The state unit of the Janata Dal has decided to contest eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab during the forthcoming elections. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the state unit of the party, the Yuva Janata Dal, the Chhatar Janata Dal, national council members and district presidents held at Phagwara yesterday under the chairmanship of Mr Harish Khanna, senior vice-president of the state unit. Mr Khanna said the party would field its candidates from Ferozepore, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Sangrur, Amritsar and Jalandhar. On the other five seats, the party would support candidates of the secular parties. He said party command had been informed about this and the list of the candidates would be finalised soon. Mr Khanna said the party
would work to give a befitting defeat to the Akali-BJP
combine. Criticising the state government, he alleged
that the non-performance of the Akali-BJP government was
proof that the promises the Akalis and the BJP had made
to the people were only meant to grab power in the state. |
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Rakesh Pandey for Ludhiana (N) seat CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 (UNI) — Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today announced the candidature of Mr Rakesh Pandey for the Ludhiana (North) Assembly byelections to be held along with Lok Sabha poll on September 5. The bypoll has been necessitated following the unseating of Mr Pandey by the Punjab and Haryana High Court while admitting a writ petition by the defeating BJP candidate in the last Assembly elections in the state. Capt Amarinder Singh has
appointed Mr Surinder Dawar as Ludhiana Urban District
Congress Committee president in place of Mr Pandey. |
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Jagir Kaur addresses
Kainth’s rally PHAGWARA, Aug 10 — Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, yesterday took to task former SGPC Jathedar G S Tohra and former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh for challenging the authority and the locus standi of the SGPC for sacking them. Addressing an election rally here for Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, SAD-BJP-BSM candidate from Phillaur (Reserved) Lok Sabha seat, she called Mr Tohra a Congress agent who had stabbed the Panth in the back. He and his coterie were using derogatory language against Akal Takht and its Jathedar and misleading people, she alleged. When Mr Tohra ruled the
SGPC for 25 years, it was right for the SGPC to appoint
and sack jathedars, but when he lost power, he had
started questioning its authority, she ridiculed. |
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Multicrore bank loan scam unearthed GURDASPUR, Aug 10 — A multicrore scam involving advance of loans to the non-forming sector by various branches of Central Cooperative Bank has come to light in this district. Loans have been advanced to "fake" persons and are not likely to be recovered. The Dina Nagar branch of the bank has advanced loans to five persons whose addresses are not on the bill. The amount advanced varies from Rs 33,500 to Rs 34,500 as the bank can advance loan in the non-forming sector up to Rs 35,000 only. All bills have reportedly been issued in the name of Pathania and Company, Paniari Gate, Dina Nagar, against the supply of furniture. According to official sources, the firm does not have a sales tax number and under rules the bank cannot issue bills in the name of firms which do not have registered sales tax number. The sources said the firm charged 10 per cent sales tax which was clearly indicated in the bills issued to customers. Also, the addresses of the customers were incomplete. The sources alleged that the sales tax charged by the firm was shared between the firm and bank employees. Moreover, a customer had to pay Rs 2,000 per case as was customary in the bank. The scandal came to light when a row erupted over the distribution of the sales tax amount among the bank employees. So much so, certain transfers were made in view of the conflict. The sources said such cases were in plenty and were in the knowledge of the authorities. However, no action was being taken to prevent it. Earlier, The Tribune had
reported a scam in advance of agricultural loans by
Punjab Agriculture Development Bank in Samana. But the
government has been maintaining silence so far. Certain
officers of the bank even reported various irregularities
committed by the employees to the Punjab Government but
nothing is being done in view of the coming Lok Sabha
poll. |
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This area tops in legalising
wills ABOHAR: This sub-division now tops in legalising wills, normally made by the head of the family before death. Almost every day notices to this effect are issued from the tehsil complex. Besides, so many complaints alleging forgery in sale deeds as well in the power of attorney, known as "mukhtiarnama" in revenue language, are under investigation. Not only money but political manipulations also work in such cases. Some example can be quoted at the outset. A local court recently remanded three persons, which included two Akali Dal activists, in judicial custody. Mr Lalit Kumar Singla, Judicial Magistrate rejected the bail applications of Mukhtiar Singh Kanwa, Gurbhej Singh and Kirpal Singh in a case filed by Anoop Singh of Bakayanwala village. Mr Anoop Singh in his application submitted under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B, IPC, had alleged that Mehal Singh, his wife Baljit Kaur, Mahabir Singh (sarpanch), Mukhtiar Singh Kanwa, Gurbhej Singh and Pala Singh had plotted to grab his ancestral agriculture land. Mr Anoop Singh’s father, Dhara Singh, was not alive but the culprits got a power of attorney registered on his behalf in favour of Mehal Singh producing an impersonater before a revenue officer on March 18, 1998. Mr Anoop Singh came to know about it when he went to the revenue patwari to get a copy of the "zamabandi" of the said land. He was stunned to know that Mehal Singh, using the power of attorney of Dhara Singh, had transferred the latter’s land to his wife, Baljit Kaur. The SAD leaders had allegedly helped the culprit in effecting this transaction. The court issued non-bailable warrants against the beneficiary couple. In another case, now being investigated by the anti fraud squad of the district police, Mr Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Gidderanwali village alleged that a nine-kanal plot owned by the late Ram Lal was sold to Rajiv Narang here using the power of attorney reportedly issued on July 12, 1977, whereas Ram Lal had died on October 21, 1991, and the signatories to the sale deed had reportedly attended his funeral also. His wife was still alive and was the legal heir to the movable and immovable property of the deceased but she was kept in the dark about the sale deed. The police registered cases under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B, IPC, against the seller, Kishan Chand, the purchaser, Rajiv Narang, Ram Dass nambardar of the village, and a witness, Kewal Krishan. Many more such
complaints were pending with different officers but only
a few complainants could get justice as highly
influential officers and revenue staff were allegedly
involved in shabby deals. Prosperity by all means was
their goal. |
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‘Dead’ inspector alive ABOHAR, Aug 10 — Mr Prabh Dayal, an inspector of Food and Supplies Department, Punjab, today appeared physically before newsmen to convince them that he was still alive though Mr A.S. Chhatwal, Director-cum-Special Secretary of the department, had declared him ‘dead’ vide his orders dated January 8, 1999. He also challenged his dismissal from service by the department. The Director, in his letter, had said a loss of Rs 23,37,909 was incurred in the wheat stored at the P.R. centre here in 1986-87. Six employees — Karnail Singh, Tilak Raj Chhabra, Jaswant Singh, Ramesh Mukhija, Kharaiti Lal and Mukhtiar Singh — were chargesheeted in this connection in 1990. The employees were accused of failure to protect the stocks from natural calamities and for negligence in their maintenance. It was alleged that in 1986-87, illegal replacement of 57469 bags of wheat caused a loss of Rs 5.81 lakh. The inquiry officer had indicted Ravi Kant, Sukhpal Singh, Net Ram and Prabh Dayal, all inspectors in the department, for the shortages. They were also indicted for not treating the stock with insecticides. The Director, ordered the accused to repay the loss. Two of the employees — Buta Singh and Prabh Dayal — were declared dead. Prabh Dayal was held responsible for the loss of Rs 2,45,742 and dismissed from service. Prabh Dayal, in a
memorandum dispatched to the Minister of Food and
Supplies, Punjab, claimed last month that he was wrongly
dismissed without a hearing and declared dead to save the
real culprits. To save the skin of the senior officers of
the department, inspectors were made scapegoats, he
alleged. He demanded a high-level vigilance probe into
the scam. |
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Mass cremation AMRITSAR, Aug 10 — The case of alleged mass cremation of bodies and the alleged kidnapping of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and his subsequent disappearance took a new turn today when Mr Kirpal Singh Randhawa, Deputy Chairman, Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), decided not to appear in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, as he feared danger to his life. Mr Randhawa and his wife have been summoned to appear in the court on September 23. Mr Randhawa was an eyewitness to the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of Mr Khalra. He and his wife, Lakhwinder Kaur, have submitted affidavits to the CBI in this regard. In a written statement here today, Mr Randhawa urged the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani to make arrangements for the grant of political asylum to him in a European country as he apprehended danger to his life. Talking to this reporter, Mr Randhawa said the name of a former DGP, Mr KPS Gill, figured in the case when Mr Kuldip Singh, a Special Police Officer, alleged that Mr Khalra was kidnapped, tortured to death and his body was thrown into a river at the instance of former Tarn Taran district police chief Ajit Singh Sandhu and Mr Gill. Mr Randhawa alleged that the security provided to him by the CRPF had been withdrawn, Instead 10 Jawans of the PAP had been provided. He said that he could not "trust" the Punjab police for a variety of reasons. Mr Randhawa was also critical of Mrs Parmjit Kaur Khalra, wife of Mr Jaswant Singh Khalra, for her decision to contest the Lok Sabha poll from the Tarn Taran constituency. He said he did not have any faith in the elections and alleged that the brother of Mr Jaswant Singh had also contested the SGPC election from Khalra. The PHRO Deputy Chairman said he had taken the decision not to appear in the court next month with a "heavy" heart. He further said that he would highlight the case of alleged mass cremation of 25,000 bodies and the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of Mr Jaswant Singh Khalra in "some other way". He, however, reiterated that Mr Khalra was kidnapped by the police and he was an eyewitness to that. It may be mentioned here
that the CRPF has been withdrawn by the government on
court orders. The court said that security should be
withdrawn in national interest from those who had taken
it as a "status symbol". |
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Some fiscal relief for PAU LUDHIANA, Aug 10 — Even as the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has begun releasing funds to Punjab Agriculture University, the premier research institution continues to be in dire financial straits. It is reliably learnt that the ICAR has already released around Rs 2 crore of the sanctioned amount of Rs 14.27 crore to the PAU and is also likely to release the development grant of Rs 1 crore in the coming week. Although this money is insufficient for the university to tide over its financial crisis, sources admit that it has provided some succour to the cash-starved university. With money beginning to flow back, the authorities have also directed the comptroller’s office to clear all dues of the university up to Rs 1 lakh as on July 31, 1999. However, the university is still with holding payment of dues of over Rs 1 lakh per party. The university's board of management had approved a budget of Rs 104 crore for the current financial year. Out of this, Rs 65.44 crore was to be paid by the state government, Rs 14.27 crore by the ICAR, and Rs 16.16 crore by the Central Government under miscellaneous schemes. The rest of the expenditure was to be met by the university's own income of Rs 2.31 crore and through the revolving funds of the university. The state government had sanctioned Rs 53 crore as the non-planned funds and Rs 10.5 crore as the planned funds. Till date, the university has not received any money in the planned funds category and the money being received in the non-planned category is also being given in instalments on a monthly basis. Sources said the monthly instalment of Rs 4.40 crore was not even sufficient to cover the salary bills, which are to the tune of Rs 5.82 crore per month. "We have very little money to carry research on the development of new technology and innovations as most of the budget is eaten up by the salaries", a senior university official said. Some time ago, the PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr G.S. Kalkat, had written to the Punjab Government about the crisis being faced by the university. Highly placed sources said that the state Finance Department had declined any financial assistance to the university and asked it to generate its own income. At its own level, the university has been generating resources, but these are limited. Each year, the university has been increasing the tuition fees of students and has also raised the consultancy charges. The PAU has also hiked the rent rates for the various guest houses and for the use of university land and its sports facilities. A senior official of the
university said that they had also suggested to the
Financial Commissioner (Development), Mr Y.S. Ratra, that
the farmers who had reaped the benefits of the technology
provided for by the PAU should give Rs 1 per quintal of
the produce sold to the university. This idea was put
forward by farmers themselves during a meeting to enable
the university to carry on with the research work. |
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Three die in shell explosion HOSHIARPUR, Aug 10 — Three persons, including a woman, were killed as a powerful abandoned bomb shell exploded at the residence of one of the victims at Thathlan village, about 8 km from here today. Gurmeet Kaur, her 17-year son, Subhash Chander and her 15-year-old neighbour, Romesh Chander, were killed on the spot when a powerful abandoned bomb shell exploded while they were trying to extract brass from it at her residence in the village. The Hoshiarpur SSP, Mr R.P. Mittal, said here that Subhash Chander and Romesh Kumar, who were returning home after completing work in the fields, on the way found the abandoned bomb shell. They took it home and tried to extract brass from it, due to which the bomb shell exploded, the SSP said. As a result of this the pieces of the body of Gurmeet Kaur were blown up in the air. The Sadar police had registered a case in this connection. The SSP said that if any
person found an abandoned bomb shell, it should be
reported to the nearest police station and no one should
try to extract brass from it. |
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Part of marriage palace
demolished LUDHIANA, Aug 10 — The newly constructed marriage palace at Haibowal Chowk, Le Grands Banquet, was partly demolished by the staff of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, allegedly for encroaching upon trust land. However, the owner of the marriage palace, Mr Satish Khullar, has alleged that the improvement trust went ahead with the demolition of a part of his building, in spite of a court order that clearly directed the improvement trust "not to interfere with the property of the marriage palace". It is learnt that when improvement trust employees started with the demolition work, they were stoned by the workers of the marriage palace. The police was called and the situation was brought under control. During this campaign launched by the Improvement Trust, one postman was seriously injured and the electricity pole was broken and it fell on a nearby house. Mr Khullar has alleged
that trust officials could not even produce demolition
order when he asked for it. The AC plant of the palace
had been damaged in the process and he had incurred a
loss of around Rs 2 lakh. He also claimed that the
construction plan of his palace had been duly passed by
the authorities. The E.O. of the Improvement Trust, when
contacted said that the palace had encroached upon 115
square yards of the trust area. |
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Teachers not given salaries for 5
months FAZILKA, Aug 10 — As many as 1,353 teachers working in government middle schools of Punjab under the Upper Primary Blackboard Operation scheme have not received the salaries for the past five months. Similarly, 971 teachers working in primary schools under the Blackboard Operation scheme have not been paid salaries for the past two months. The reason, for the non-payment of the salaries, is stated that these posts have not been sanctioned by the Finance Department. Mr Raj Kishore Kalra,
spokes- man, Government Secondary Teachers Union, has
demanded the release of salaries as they are facing
financial crunch. |
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"No salaries paid for 16
months" PATIALA, Aug 10 — The Patiala Aviation Club Workers Union has expressed resentment against the state government regarding the non-payment of salaries for the past 16 months. In a press note, the president of the union, Mr Balwinder Kumar, alleged that the Secretary, Civil Aviation, had threatened to sack them when the delegation met him regarding the issue. Mr Balwinder Kumar claimed that an agreement had reached between the management and the union in which they were assured that the salaries for the month of July would be paid in time and the salaries of the past 15 months would be paid in instalments along with arrears and bonus. However, he alleged, the management backed out from the commitment without giving any reason. The workers appealed to
the Chief Minister to look into the matter. |
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4 more smugglers arrested BATALA, Aug 10 (UNI) — The local police, which busted a gang of drug and gold smugglers linked with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the arrest of its four members on August 4, today arrested four more gangsters and recovered 5 kg of brown sugar meant for distribution in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Delhi. The SSP Mr Lok Nath Angra said that gang leader Harpal Singh Pala, who was linked with ISI agents Munsha and Salim, Ajit Singh Jeeta, Makhan Singh and Kartar Singh, all residents of Amritsar district, were arrested around dawn today near Tanda bridge and 5 kg of brown sugar was recovered from their possession. Earlier, Kuldip Singh, Anil Kumar Kala and Sunil Aggarwal, all residents of Jalandhar city, and Rajesh Aggarwal of Rani Colony’s Sector 14 in Delhi, were arrested with 1 kg of brown sugar. Investigation revealed that a consignment of 12 kg of brown sugar was collected by Harpal Singh on the basis of instruction from the ISI agents from a man at Kapurthala’s Rail Coach Factory bus stand two months ago. Harpal Singh, who had collected the contraband by showing Rs 5 note bearing 577 as last three digits, however, did not know the identity of the Kapurthala supplier. The narcotics packets of 1 kg each were wrapped in white linen cloth stamped with "ittehad international", possibly a mafia group,and some words in illegible Urdu inscribed on the packets. A case had been
registered against all accused. Four arrested earlier
were in judicial custody, the SSP added. |
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LL.B course at GND University
centre AMRITSAR, Aug 10 — Guru Nanak Dev University has decided to start a LL.B five-year course at the varsity regional centre at Gurdaspur from the current academic session. This was stated here today by Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor of the university. The course will be available to those who had secured 45 per cent marks in aggregate in the plus two examinations and should not have completed the age of 20 years (22 years in case of the SC candidates) on July, 1999. The varsity has extended
the last date for admission to M.A (part-I) in religious
studies to August 15. |
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Freedom fighters seek museum ROPAR, Aug 10 — Freedom fighters of this district yesterday demanded that a museum-cum-memorial on the pattern of Desh Bhagat Yadgari Hall of Jalandhar should be set up at each district headquarters in the state. This demand was raised at a function organised to observe the Quit India Day at the Ambedkar Bhavan here. Mr J.C. Sabharwal, Assistant Commissioner (Grievances), Ropar, presided over the function. They also demanded that the portraits of the martyrs of the freedom struggle should be displayed in all government offices to inculcate the spirit of nationalism among the youth. They also demanded that in the proposed museum-cum-memorial, the portraits of the freedom fighters and their life history should be kept to impart knowledge to the youth about their sacrifices. The freedom fighters remembered the martyrs and paid rich tributes to them. Tributes were also paid to the martyrs of Kargil and two minutes' silence was observed to pay respects to them. Among those who
addressed the gathering were Dr Krishan, Mr Bachan Singh
Alowal, Babu Dhani Ram, Giani Rajinder Singh and Bibi
Tara Devi Sharma, all freedom fighters. |
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