Saturday, December 11, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Saturday, December 11, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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Crop
insurance scheme runs into trouble Lottery ban to hit Punjab |
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Convention alleges rights'
violations Writ plea on land price admitted Performance poor: CRRID Mahesh Inder Grewal alleges bid on
life CM flags off special relief train Indian MPs to Sharif’s rescue Cong cautions Akalis on byelection Man posing as Wg Cdr arrested Woman killed over land dispute Govt urged to ban smoking,
drinking |
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Crop insurance scheme runs
into trouble CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — The Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojna (crop insurance scheme), which was to become effective from October 1 this year, seems to have run into rough weather. Several states have raised objections to the manner in which the existing modified comprehensive crop insurance scheme has been changed by the Centre. Though expected to be introduced in all states and union territories from the 1999-2000 rabi season in respect of all crops, except for fruit plantations, forage and vegetable crops, the same could not happen. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, was the first to write to the Prime Minister in August expressing reservations over the contents of the scheme. He wanted the scheme to be first discussed among the Chief Ministers, pending which the comprehensive crop insurance scheme would be continued. Mr Basu objected to the finalisation of the scheme in a "unilateral" manner by the Centre. While agreeing with the concept of the scheme, envisaging enlarging the base of the insurance coverage, the modalities chalked out, he maintained, would put an "anomolous and unjustified" financial burden on state governments. Mr Basu also pointed out to the Prime Minister that in the existing comprehensive crop insurance scheme the states were co-insular receiving one-third of the premium and sharing and-third of the claim, the balance being shared by the Centre. Under the new scheme, the premium shall be received by the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) alone. The claim beyond the premium received and the administrative expenses of the GIC shall have to be borne by the states and the Centre on a 50:50 basis. This, Mr Basu said, would cause for the states a substantial and unfair deviation from the normal linkage between risk taken and the insured. He expressed serious reservations on sharing of the corpus fund, bank charges and administration charges. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has also received a copy of the letter of the West Bengal Chief Minister addressed to the Prime Minister, asking Mr Badal to take up the matter with Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. Consequently, Punjab has studied the crop insurance scheme and shortlisted problems likely to arise and made suggestions. Haryana too has views almost similar to those of Punjab. The Secretary of Agriculture in Haryana, Mr Nasim Ahmed, has put up a note on the scheme referring to the views of Mr Jyoti Basu and asking Mr Chautala to consider the same before the scheme is implemented. Punjab's Financial Commissioner, Development, Mr Y.S. Ratra, says the Chief Minister reviewed the pros and cons of the scheme at a meeting here on December 7. Punjab's suggestions will be conveyed to the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in the Union Ministry of agriculture by Mr Ratra. The Chief Minister will be writing on the subject to the Prime Minister shortly. He is also expected to talk to Mr Vajpayee on the issue. In fact, even when Mr Som Pal was the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Badal had written to him pointing out certain infirmities in the modifications carried out in the comprehensive crop insurance scheme to which Mr Basu has also referred to in his communication to the Prime Minister. The salient features of the scheme show that almost all crops, except fruit plantations, forage and vegetables crops, have been covered. Among vegetables only potato has been included. All loanee farmers growing notified crops will be covered compulsorily. The scheme is optional for non-loanee farmers. All natural calamities, including pest and insect attack, have been covered but damage to crops due to war or nuclear risk or malicious damage is excluded. The insurance sum for a loanee farmer will be almost equal to the loan amount. It could extend to the value of the threshold yield at the option of the insured farmer, who could insure his crop up to the value of 150 per cent of the average yield in a notified area on payment of premium on commercial rates. At least 50 per cent subsidy of premium is allowed to small and marginal farmers to be shared between the states and the Centre. The subsidy will be phased out in a period of three to five years. A state can not notify "risk" crops, while the scheme covers even less risk-prone crops like wheat and paddy, which have to be insured. Any state which opts for the scheme cannot exit for three years, just as a loanee cannot. Punjab has suggested that for calculating the average yield, the data should pertain to a "normal" three to five year period and not just the "past" three to five years as the scheme suggests. This is so because cotton fared badly in the past three to five years in Punjab. The farmers should have the option to insure one or more crops of choice rather than making it mandatory to insure crops the scheme identifies. Rather than increasing the existing number of "crop cutting experiments "to be considered to calculate the average yield, the GIC should pay a lumpsum indemnity amount to the state, which should decide on the payment of indemnity to the farmers affected. The administrative expenses and share of the corpus fund is very high for Punjab. The same should be in proportion to the net cropped area in different states. Haryana wants "village" and not "block" as the primary unit for implementing the scheme. Mr Ahmed says the scheme should be implemented for the benefit of farmers in only those states where irrigation facilities are poor or where dependence on rain is more. In such states production fluctuations are high. The political angle has also to be kept in view. While Haryana implemented the "pilot crop insurance scheme in 1981-82 in selected blocks, it delayed implementation of the comprehensive crop insurance scheme in 1985-86 and did not take up the modified scheme later. Both Punjab and Haryana are conscious of the financial burden. Punjab will need Rs 4.41 crore only for contribution towards premium subsidy and administrative charges. Contribution to the corpus fund will entail an additional burden. In Haryana "crop
cutting experiments", if enhanced, will mean at
least Rs 40 lakh annually, Rs 5 crore for the corpus fund
and Rs 6.5 crore for subsidy disbursement to small and
marginal farmers among loanees on a 50 per cent basis
— another sum of Rs 13 crore annually for payment of
50 per cent of the subsidised amount. |
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Lottery ban to hit Punjab CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — The decision of the Union Government to ban lotteries in the country will be a setback for fund-starved Punjab. Reports from Delhi indicate that a Bill to ban all sorts of lotteries in the country will be introduced in the current session of Parliament. Already, the Cabinet has approved a proposal for banning lotteries. The subject is on the central list. Punjab's annual income from lotteries is around Rs 17 crore. Apart from four bumper draws in a year, Punjab holds lottery draws on a weekly basis. Only tickets pertaining to Punjab Lotteries can be sold in the state. There is a ban on the sale of lotteries of other states in Punjab. Official sources said only Bhutan and Himachal Pradesh were allowed to sell their lottery tickets on a reciprocal basis a few years ago in Punjab. The sources said here today that the matter with regard to ban hits lotteries and its consequent financial and other losses had been brought in the notice of the authorities concerned in the Punjab Government. The issue is expected to be discussed in the next few days at the Chief Minister's level. A similar decision by the Central government earlier was not implemented. Then Punjab had taken a clear stand against the ban by the Union Government. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had written a letter to the Union Government suggesting that there should be a debate at the national level on the subject. Informed sources said several social aspects were related to the lottery business. If lotteries were banned, people would resort to unauthorised channels which would be several times more harmful for the people than the government run lottery business, they argued. There is little doubt that lottery is a social evil. Hundreds of people have been ruined across the country due to this business. Scandals worth several thousand crores, especially in the north-east states, have come to light. But what happened in Haryana after imposition of prohibition last year, everybody knows. Almost similar clandestine activity will begin in the lottery sector. Hundreds of people in Punjab are employed in the lottery business. Official concerned said the Union Government should weigh all aspects before taking any final decision. As the Lotteries Regulation Act in already in place, it would be made more stringent to further curb malpractices in the business and also to check its negative impact on the people, especially poor sections. Under the Act earlier, single-digit lotteries were banned. In fact, Punjab is in the process of starting online lottery on the pattern of National Lottery in England. It floated tenders in the international market in this connection the second time recently. Some Indian parties with the backing of foreign companies have offered bids in this connection. Earlier, similar tenders were floated and some international companies based abroad had offered bids, but the foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) did not allow the Punjab Government to accept these, saying as lotteries was not a priority area for foreign investment, such permission could not be granted. Now that the Central Government has taken a decision to ban lotteries, Punjab will have no alternative except to cancel the bids received in connection with online lottery. Asked how the online lottery system worked, the officials said any person or party interested in buying lottery was allowed to prepare a number of his or her choice and feed it through the online computer network to a central processing unit which after making entry of the number in the record would send back the confirmation. The central processing unit would draw lots on the basis of the numbers recorded in the computer system. A senior Akali leader
said Punjab was one of those states which was pressing
for financial autonomy for states. Recently, Mr Parkash
Singh Badal and Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Chief Minister and
Finance Minister, respectively, had pleaded before the
National Finance Commission for full autonomy to states
in financial matters. However, the BJP-led government at
the Centre, which had the support of the SAD, was doing
the opposite. It was banning lotteries, a sources of
revenue even though a meagre one. |
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Rs 40 lakh plot scam
unearthed KAPURTHALA, Dec 10 — A scandal involving more than Rs 40 lakh in the allotment of residential plots to its employees by the local improvement trust, in scheme number one of the trust has been unearthed. The trust has allegedly recommended the allotment of eight residential plots to its eight employees including its executive officer much below the reserved price. According to sources, the trust at its meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr S.S. Bains, Additional Deputy Commissioner who is also chairman of the trust on November 17, 99 passed a resolution vide agenda no 42 recommending the eight plots measuring 100 square yards each for seven employees and one plot measuring 150 square yards to its executive officer in scheme no one at the rate of Rs 86.70 per square yard against fixed reserve price of Rs 2963 per square yard fixed by the Punjab government in 1996 thus causing a financial loss of Rs 40 lakh to the state exchequer. The scandal has been unearthed by the senior BJP leader of the district Mr Dalip Patharia, a Municipal Councillor of the local Municipal Council, who released photo copies of the resolution to press here today. He demanded strict action against the guilty officers and scrapping of the allotment of plots. These plots are reserved for allotment to economically poor persons. When contacted Mr Bains chairman of trust said that variance in the reserved price had come to his notice after the passing of the resolution and he had recommended the stopping of it. He said that he had asked the tehsildar, Kapurthala to assess the market price of plots in scheme no one and submit his report within a week. Mr Bains said that on knowing the variation of market price the trust would review its resolution at its next meeting to be held in first week of January 2000. He announced that the trust would even could go to the extent of rejecting the resolution If these plots are put
to auction it would have fetched Rs 40 lakh at the rate
of Rs 5000 per square yards. Whereas the trust had
recommended the allotment of eight plots at the price of
Rs 7.31 lakh and even if the plots are allotted at the
reserved price of Rs 2963 per square yard it would have
fetched Rs 25 lakh. |
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Convention alleges rights'
violations AMRITSAR, Dec 10 — The Khalsa action committee and human rights activists presented a large number of families of victims of alleged police violence in the past at a convention held here today mark International Human Rights Day. The convention, which was attended by human rights activists like Justice Ajit Singh Bains, chairman of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, and Mr Jaspal Singh Dhillon, chairman of the Human Rights and Democratic Forum, alleged that these families still remained uprooted and demanded compensation for them on a par with the families of the victims of militants. The convention moving resolutions in this respect further alleged that police harassment continued as before. They presented an aged woman Inderjit Kaur from Boothgarh village in Morinda area of Ropar district whose two sons were allegedly slained by the police in the early nineties and one son was disabled in firing. Mr Jaspal Singh Dhillon, who brought her at the function, told the gathering that she had been facing harassment for the last three months by Ropar and Ludhiana police summoning her at police stations. She had been undergoing sustained interrogation regarding her 'slained' children, he claimed. Justice Bains, while presiding over the convention, accused the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal of ignoring the cases of human rights violations and claimed that state was still ruled by police establishment. "The police is dictating the political agenda of the state," he remarked. He said, Mr Badal had not learnt any lesson from the worst performance of the SAD in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. He called upon the people to wake up as the Akali government had failed on all fronts. The Punjab Human Rights Organisation presented a memorandum to the President of India through the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, alleging that India instead of observing human rights was violating this right of the people. Other who spoke on the
occasion included Mr Narain Singh, convener of the Akal
Federation, Mr Kanwar Pal Singh, chief spokesperson of
the Dal Khalsa, Bhai Ram Singh, general secretary, Akali
Dal (Amritsar), and Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra. |
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Writ plea on land price
admitted CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today admitted a writ petition challenging the fixing of the minimum price of land for the purpose of registration of a sale deed by the Deputy Commissioner of Kapurthala. The petitioner, Mr Gurpreet Singh of Jalandhar, had entered into an agreement for the purchase of land in village Khajoorla ia Phagwara tehsil but the scribes refused to scribe the sale deed in view of the instructions issued by the Registrar-cum-D.C., Kapurthala not to scribe or register a sale deed below Rs 4 lakh per acre. If the scribe violated the instructions his licence would be cancelled. So he was unable to get his sale deed scribed and registered. The petitioner submitted that the instructions issued by the D.C. were illegal in view of judgement of the Supreme Court in Mahabir's case. The Division Bench
comprising Mr Justice J.L. Gupta and Mr Justice R.L.
Anand admitted the petition and recorded a statement of
the counsel for the respondent that the respondent would
not interfere in the right of the petitioner to get the
sale deed scribed and presented the same for
registration. |
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Family planning in Fatehgarh Sahib CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — The performance of Fatehgarh Sahib in the implementation of the family planning programme during 1997-98 has been poor by state standards. This is the conclusion of the Population Research Centre at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) reached after a survey of the district. The study was assigned to the CRRID by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. Fatehgarh Sahib was the only district in the state to be chosen for target-free approach in Punjab. The necessary survey instruments provided by the ministry were mentioned specifically to assess the utilisation of family planning and material and child health services by the community from government health institutions along with client satisfaction (b) to apprise the availability of infrastructural facilities, staff position, intersectoral coordination, involvement of Panchayati raj Institutions (c) to measure the quality of follow-up services and (d) to evaluate the knowledge and opinion of health functionaries about the target-free approach. The survey for the first quarter in the district began in May, 1996, and the fourth quarter survey was completed in the last week of January, 1997, through the use of circular systematic sampling of 40 sub-centres, covering 115 villages in two full-fledged primary health centres in the district. A total of 2,689 eligible couples in 1,991 households and 74 programme functionaries were covered under the survey. With a view to measuring
the level of awareness about family planning, the CRRID
team queried eligible women. The level of awareness about
family planning was extremely high with 99.77 per cent
women being aware about the family planning techniques to
space and limit childbearing. The major sources that
helped these women to gain awareness were neighbours and
relatives, the media and health workers. |
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Growth at standstill in Sirhind FATEHGARH SAHIB: Sirhind, a historical and district headquarters town, is crying for development. When Fatehgarh Sahib was made a district in 1992 by the then Chief Minister, Beant Singh, its residents had hoped that their town would be developed in a planned manner, but infighting among municipal officials and councillors has not only hampered development activities, but it has converted the nagar palika into "narakpalika". All roads of the town are in a bad condition. What to talk of driving, it is difficult to even walk on these roads. The town is dotted with heaps of rubbish at every corner. Choked sewers and drains speak volumes about neglect by the council. Encroachments on government & municipal land in spite of court orders are common by powerful and influential persons. There is no outlet for drain water. Even after a moderate spell of rain the town is flooded. Besides, it has not been fully covered by sewers. The town does not have any bus stand, the condition of the lone municipal park is indescribable. The residents of the town allege that it is well-known fact that municipal councillors do not jell well. Infighting is at its peak due to which there is no control over employees who have also lost interest in work. The Executive Officer (EO) of the council and the Section Officer do not see eye to eye and complain to senior officials against each other. Both these officials commute from Chandigarh and Patiala and their absence causes development work to suffer. When contacted, the EO, said the works which had been going on for one year and were still pending could have been completed in a month. He said it would be better if the works are done through some government agency like PWD or Panchayati Raj. He said he alone could not solve public grievances. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner V.K. Janjua has also written to the government for immediate transfer of both officials. He has written that both indulge in infighting and blame each other. They do not bother to comply with his directions. He had given them lakhs of rupees for various development projects and despite repeated directions, they did not start the projects. Sources revealed that 21 out of 29 municipal councillors had also passed a resolution for the transfer of EO, but nothing happened and he managed to stay on. The Municipal Council had also passed a resolution for appointing an additional SO in the council so that the development work could be initiated, but the Deputy Director has not yet given approval. Mr R.N. Sharma,
president of the Citizens Welfare Council, has urged the
government to solve the problems of the residents
immediately and to take the action against the officials
concerned. He demanded that those projects approved under
the development of the small and medium town development
scheme, for which Rs 2 crore had been sanctioned, should
be started immediately. |
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Mahesh Inder Grewal alleges bid
on life LUDHIANA, Dec 10 — Akali Dal MLA and a confidant of the former SGPC chief and president of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal has alleged that an attempt was made to eliminate physically him here last night and the police was trying to downplay the case. Mr Grewal has alleged that while he was leaving home to attend a marriage ceremony around 9.45 p.m. occupants of a white Maruti car coming from the opposite direction hurled something at his car which caused sound like that a gunshot. Incidentally the police has dismissed the incident as being no more than the accused bursting crackers in a mood of revelry after consuming liquor and has rounded up three of the four accused Harjit Singh, Amritpal Singh and Sanjiv. Says the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Kuldip Singh: "When we were led to the spot by Mr Grewal, where he first heard the "gunshot" we found the remnants of a burst cracker, which was still smelling of freshly burnt "potash". The police has also identified the woman Suraksha Rani, from whom the boys had bought crackers worth Rs 25, which were set off by the accused. However, a close relative of Mr Mahesh Inder Singh while ridiculing the story given by the police said that even before the police had nabbed the fourth accused in the case, Raju, who fired the shots, it was jumping to conclusions. "This proves mala fide intentions of those responsible for bringing out the truth," he said. According to Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, when the first gunshot was fired at him, his driver stopped the car and after switching on the hooter turned around towards the other car that too, had halted some 50 years away. Seeing the car coming towards them, the assailants too tried to speed away before the car entered the Abdullapur Basti, a person sitting in the rear is alleged to have fired two shots in the air. While the chase continued for 20 minutes, the assailants stopped their car outside the residence of a senior Akali Dal (Badal) leader, Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia while one of the four culprits managed to flee and two were nabbed by Mr Grewal’s gunman and his driver. The fourth person rushed inside Mr Bhatia’s house, allegedly to seek refuge. The former Punjab Cabinet Minister says that he then himself called the police, which rounded up the three accused. He, however, denied the claim made by the SSP about his refusal in getting an FIR registered. Meanwhile at a press
conference, the SSP, Mr Kuldip Singh, said that all four
accused were residents of Abdullapur Basti and neighbours
of Mr Bhatia. Last night, they were under the influence
of liquor and while they were going to an ice cream
parlour, they set off a cracker on the road side, Mr
Grewal’s car, which had its hooter switched on,
stopped on hearing the sound of the cracker and started
following them. The district Bar Association, Ludhiana,
has given a call for a two-day strike in protest against
the alleged attempt on Mr Grewal’s life. |
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CM flags off special relief
train RAJPURA, Dec 10 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today that his government was stable and a meeting of party workers held by former Speaker Ravi Inder Singh yesterday was of no consequence. Talking to reporters before flagging off a special train carrying relief material for the cyclone -affected in Orissa under the charge of Baba Man Singh Pehowawale. The Chief Minister said only a few party workers had attended the meeting. Making it out to be a case of sour grapes Mr Badal said Mr Ravi Inder Singh had no contribution towards the building of the Shiromani Akali Dal. He said neither had Mr Ravi Inder ever made any personal sacrifice by going to jail to highlight the demands of the party. The Chief Minister also disclosed that a national institute for renewable energy would be set up at Kaputhala. He also disclosed that the government had received Rs 31 crore for the Khalsa Heritage Complex whose work on which would be taken up speedily. He said the Israeli architect Moshe Sajdie would also be coming to Anandpur Sahib to oversee the construction of the complex and that he too would visit the site on December 19 to review the work done earlier. He said HUDCO would also spend Rs 200 crore for laying sewerage in several towns of the state. The Chief Minister also
flagged off a train comprising government had already
sent a contingent of 300 trucks and two trains consisting
of about 70 wagons full of food items, clothes and other
articles of daily use on November 11 and 27 from Delhi
and Ludhiana. |
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Indian MPs to Sharif’s
rescue FEROZEPORE, Dec 10 — In a gesture of goodwill to the ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Nawaz Sharif, a delegation of Indian MPs is likely to visit Islamabad to prevail upon the military rulers for fair trial to him. Disclosing this here today, the Lok Sabha member from Faridkot Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar said that a memorandum to this effect would be submitted to the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee by the MPs on Monday to facilitate such visit. Expressing his concern over the military takeover in Pakistan and subsequent derailment of democracy in that country, Mr Brar said, the Indian government had a role to play in saving Mr Sharif from being hanged. "How long can we look to America to act. We being mother of all democracies should come to the rescue of a man who happens to be the premier of a neighbouring country", Mr Brar said. He added that his worries also stemmed from the fact that he represented a border state and any adverse development in Pakistan would have a fallout in Punjab. Detailing his plan to visit Pakistan, Mr Brar said that the Indian MPs proposed to meet the military chief seeking fair trial for Mr Sharif, who currently is detained for conspiracy. Cutting across the party lines, a number of Lok Sabha members had already consented to visit Pakistan, Mr Brar said. He reminded that Mr Vajpayee had already indicated whom the Indian government considered the real head of Pakistan. "So far, we have been discreetly condemning the military coup. It is time to translate feelings into action", he quipped. Mr Brar, who was here to attend a Congress rally to protest against the excesses being committed on the party workers by the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine also said that he would raise in Parliament to bring a Bill that provided for the imposition of the President’s rule in states that went to polls for fair and free elections. Accusing the ruling Akali Dal of committing atrocities on the Congress workers during the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls in Ferozepore, he said, the misuse of administrative machinery by a ruling party could only be avoided, if the elections were held under the President’s rule. He lamented that the state government was widely indulging in witch hunt of the Congress workers and as a result of the humiliating defeat of the Akali Dal-BJP combine, the police has booked "our supporters and their relatives". Referring to the proposed move of the central government to appoint a fresh commission of inquiry to reinvestigate the massacre of the Sikhs in 1984, Mr Brar said that his party welcomes such development. Though the Congress is being accused of engineering the riots following the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, none of the successive non-Congress government could bring the culprits to the book, Mr Brar said. "Our party would
like the guilty to be punished, however big he may
be", he assured. |
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Cong cautions Akalis on
byelection FEROZEPORE, Dec 10 — Cautioning the ruling Akali Dal against poll excesses in Nawanshahr witnessing the byelection the Punjab Congress Committee President, Capt Amarinder Singh today warned that stick-carrying party workers will guard the polling stations. Capt Amarinder Singh announced that is supporters would not allow rigging or brow beating by the ruling party workers as was allowed to happen by the Ferozepore authorities during the Lok Sabha polls. Accusing the ruling Akali Dal of framing false criminal cases against 300 Congress workers and their relatives after suffering humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, he said that their party would also prevail upon the central government to bring a Bill that provided for the imposition of President’s rule in the area going to polls to ensure fair elections. Capt Amarinder Singh, who was here to address a Congress rally held to protest against the registration of "false cases" against the party workers said that most cases pertained to Ferozepore and Faridkot areas. Later in the day, the party leaders presented a memorandum of demands to the Deputy Commissioner, seeking the scrapping of the ‘motivated’ cases registered against the party workers in the district. BATHINDA: The Punjab Congress chief, Capt Amarinder Singh and the Leader of the Opposition Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, have demanded the institution of a probe by the CBI, into the multi crore irrigation scandal in the Bathinda Canal division. Meanwhile, Mr Tirath
Singh Brar and Mr Major Singh Brar, both serving Junior
Engineers in the Bathinda Canal Division have approached
the Punjab and Haryana High Court for CBI probe into the
scam. |
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Man posing as Wg Cdr
arrested AMRITSAR, Dec 10 — The police claims to have arrested Shaukeen Chand Sood, alias Kaushal Chand Sood, of Gurdaspur on a charge of cheating persons by posing as Wing Commander. The city SP, Mr Jatinder Jain, said in a press note today that he had been duping cloth merchants by asking them to submit tenders and then acquiring cloth supply for uniforms of the Air Force personnel. The culprit also collected money from many persons on the pretext of providing jobs. The SP said the police recovered several quotations of cloth merchants and applications for jobs. A case under Sections
419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 170, IPC, has been registered
against him. |
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Woman killed over land dispute FAZILKA, Dec 10 — Reports of a murder of a middle-aged woman of Bahmniwala village, 45 km from here, over a small piece of agricultural land allegedly by her son, daughter and a brother have been received. According to FIR lodged with the Sadar police, Jalalabad, by Mr Mangat Singh, son of the deceased woman, Nanko Bai (55), his family comprised of four brothers, and three sisters. All three sisters and one brother were married. The family owned three and a half acres of land and their father Bhaman Singh, had died 12 years ago. About two and a half acres continued to be in name of their father while one acre was in the name of Nanko Bai. As per the FIR Mangat Singh’s brother Balbir Singh and sister Jeeto Bai had been demanding their share of land from their mother. However, Nanko Bai dismissed their claim on the plea that she would sell her share to perform the marriage of her unmarried sons. Thus, the dispute between mother and her married children persisted. It has been further recorded in the police report that on Wednesday evening Nanko Bai’s son, Balbir Singh daughters, Jeetto Bai and Waziro Bai along with their maternal uncle Wazir Singh again raised the issue of land share and started attacking Nanko Bai. When Harish Singh, another unmarried son of Nanko Bai, raised the alarm the accused fled. Thereafter, seriously injured Nanko Bai was rushed to the civil hospital at Jalalabad where she succumbed to her injuries last night. The Jalalabad police has
registered a case of murder under Section 302 against all
four accused. |
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Govt urged to ban smoking,
drinking MOGA, Dec 10 — Almost all religious as well as political parties, including the heads of local institutions, have urged the state government to ban smoking, drinking, gambling, beauty contests, fashion and the use of intoxicants in all institutions, including government offices. Obscene film posters
should also not be displayed near local educational
institutions. PPCC general secretary Malti Thapar and
organising secretary Vijay Sathi said yesterday that
while smoking, drinking and gambling were ruining the
youth, beauty contests and fashion shows were prompting
crimes against women. |
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Teachers boycott examinations LUDHIANA, Dec 10 — On the call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU), teachers of non-government affiliated colleges boycotted house examinations and other works in colleges here. Prof Kanwaljit Singh, President, district council of the PCCTU, claimed that the strike was complete in Ludhiana, Jagraon, Khanna, Sadhar, Dakha, Doraha and Samrala. They were demanding regular release of quarterly grants, payment of arrears of new scales and implementation of pension ‘gratuity scheme with effect from April 1992. Meanwhile, the college
authorities have postponed the examinations. |
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Punjab holiday on Dec 13 CHANDIGARH, Dec 10
— The Punjab Government has declared December 13 as
a gazetted holiday on account of the Martyrdom Day of
Guru Teg Bahadur. An official press note said the holiday
would also be observed under the Negotiable Instruments
Act, 1881. |
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