Thursday, July 29, 1999
|
P U N J A B | |
Thursday, July 29, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
||
|
Cong, Left to fight
jointly CHANDIGARH, July 27 — The Congress and Left parties have decided to contest jointly the elections for the 13th Lok Sabha from Punjab. They are now discussing threadbare each parliamentary constituency. Confusion in Punjab BJP CHANDIGARH, July 28 — All is not well in the Punjab unit of the BJP. There is a lot of confusion in the party with regard to nomination of candidates to contest the Lok Sabha elections in the state. |
 |
|
|||||||
|
Labourers were given biscuits JALANDHAR, July 28 — Some of the unconscious Bihari labourers found yesterday in the Amritsar-Barauani train, have gained consciousness. Some claimed that an unidentified Bihari gave them some biscuits, before they lost consciousness. 95 fake IVPs seized, 2 held
Ghaggar
to be canalised Jewellery
shop looted Faridkot poll Badal
using police to terrorise party men: Tohra Badal
govt working will be ‘key issue’ JD
(Yadav) men join Gowda First
Indian woman to attend world maths conference Badal
pays tributes to Mata Tej Kaur 1
arrested for abducting girl SAD
(B) candidate starts campaign BSP-SHSAD
nominee Punjab
teachers wait for salaries WSC
issues : Mann called to Amritsar Strike
by bus drivers |
|||||||||
 |
||||
Election scene CHANDIGARH, July 27 — The Congress and Left parties have decided to contest jointly the elections for the 13th Lok Sabha from Punjab. They are now discussing threadbare each parliamentary constituency and how to exploit Akali schism and "falling graph of the BJP." Senior Congress and Left leaders said it had been agreed broadly to leave Sangrur for the CPM and Bathinda for the CPI. The Congress would contest the rest of the 11 Lok Sabha seats. For Jalandhar, a former Prime Minister , Mr I.K. Gujral, could be a candidate and might get the support of the Left and Akalis of all hues. But the Congress would field a serious contender from there. In case, Mr Gujral is not there, the All-India Akali Dal lead by the former SGPC president, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, would leave this to Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala. The Akali Dal and the BJP had won all the 13 seats last time. Opposition had drawn a blank. "We want to reverse this trend and show the Akalis their place", the Punjab CPM secretary, Mr Balwant Singh, told TNS. The Congress and the Left parties will work in such a manner that the Akalis lose maximum number of seats". In fact, both parties are assessing the strength of the Akalis led by Mr Tohra and the BSP and rope them in some form. But it would be a ticklish task. Mr Tohra is keen not only to defeat his arch rival party, the Shiromani Akali Dal lead by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, but to gain some foothold with the help of the BSP. "We would field strong candidates at least in six to seven seats. There will be three- cornered contests and scales would tilt in our favour. Mr Badal cannot imagine the kind of resentment prevailing against his government. Let him take care of Faridkot where too he will meet his waterloo", Mr Tohra told TNS here. Mr Tohra was in upbeat mood, but seems to realise that defeating Mr Badal's candidates was one thing, taking Lok Sabha seats another. He still seemed to be working his strategy. In fact there is an apparent contradiction in the position of the Congress and the Left parties. It is okay if these parties join hands to contest. They may be able to transfer their votes to each other. But how would the combination of Mr Tohra and Mr Kanshi Ram, BSP President, help. They would be dividing the Opposition vote bank, and thus help the Akali Dal (Badal). "It is not going to be easy for all of them to unite and formulate a strategy to defeat us. We have a solid Akali base that cannot be touched by Mr Tohra or the Congress. In fact, if they join hands, whether openly or clandestinely, this would help us. We shall show them their place", asserts Akali Dal General Secretary and Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh. He said he was aware of the efforts of the Congress and others to strike a deal. But this is not as simple as the Badal Akali leaders would make it look like. The way Mr Badal is camping in Faridkot and the funds being pumped in, showed that he has taken the fight very seriously. This shows he was aware of the challenge. Government sources here said that from the three major heads of like Calamity Relief Fund, Chief Minister's Relief Fund and other funds , a staggering sum of Rs 250 crore has been made available to the Faridkot constituency alone. But Mr Badal is equally serious about other LS seats. His strategy is to secure this seat for his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, and then concentrate on other seats. Mr Badal has more less decided on other seats. Despite pressure from his daughter for the Tarn Taran seat, Mr Badal with his nose to the ground that this would trigger a charge of nepotism against him and thus was all set to choose Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur, a member in the outgoing Lok Sabha. His only worry is the BJP candidates for Gurdaspur and Amritsar. He has constituted a team of officers to provide him a detailed assessment for each Lok Sabha seat. It is also learnt that Mr Tohra and Mr Kanshi Ram would concentrate only on select seats and work to stop any division of votes that normally go against the Badal Akali Dal. Here the strategy could be to field candidates in such a manner that each seat has one clear winner from the parties opposed to Mr Badal. It should be Mr Badal versus others. "Given the poor stock of the government, only a miracle could help the Akali Dal led by Mr Badal", a Tohra loyalist said. There is yet another dimension to the whole exercise of elections by the Akali Dal and the BJP . Mr Badal wants the BJP to field candidates who will not lose. This has been realised by Mr Badal and his colleagues. The BJP in Punjab is not only a sharply divided house, but many of the BJP leaders, including its state unit president, Mr Daya Singh Sodhi have antagonised the Akalis by levelling charges. Mr Sodhi has gone on record having said that some people close to Mr Badal had made Rs 50 crore during liquor auctions. This is simply not acceptable to Mr Badal and his supporters. In fact, such allegations have not come from other parties. The BJP has earlier
declared that all the three sitting members, Mr Daya
Singh Sodhi, Mr Vinod Khanna and Mr Kamal Chaudhry would
contest. It is now having second thoughts. But it may
finally opt for the old candidates. |
||
Nomination of candidates CHANDIGARH, July 28 — All is not well in the Punjab unit of the BJP. There is a lot of confusion in the party with regard to nomination of candidates to contest the Lok Sabha elections in the state. The confusion has been compounded by reported dithering on the part of cine star Vinod Khanna to contest from the Gurdaspur constituency from where he was elected last time on the BJP ticket. It has been reported in a section of the press that Mr Vinod Khanna has requested the Mumbai (south) unit of the BJP to consider his name for one of the constituencies there. Will Mr Khanna contest from Gurdaspur or Mumbai? This question is being debated in the top echelons of the party, especially among those leaders who wanted that Mr Khanna should leave the Gurdaspur seat to make way for certain Punjab BJP leaders. Last time the BJP had contested the Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats and had won all the three. Informed sources said following Mr Vinod Khanna's statement, expressing his desire to contest from Mumbai, several leaders in BJP's top echelon had become active — to avail of the ticket for the Gurdaspur seat. A very senior leader of the BJP in the state is much inclined to contest from Gurdaspur, it is learnt. Informed sources said the top leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is a political ally of the BJP at the state and national levels have advised the top leadership of the BJP in Delhi to change certain BJP candidates for a better performance at the hustings. The SAD leadership has also not taken kindly to the reported statement by the BJP's Punjab president, Mr Daya Singh Sodhi, that the breakaway faction of ruling Akalis led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra would affect the prospects of the SAD-BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha poll. Informed sources said the SAD leadership had urged the BJP leadership in Delhi to tell its state leaders not to make statements which could demoralise the party's rank and file of the SAD and the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha poll and create problems for the alliance during campaigning. Even Mr Sodhi has to change his statement with regard to renomination of BJP candidates for three seats in Punjab. First, on July 17 while addressing a press conference at Phagwara, Mr Sodhi stated that the Punjab State Election Committee of the party has recommended the renomination of three members, including Mr Vinod Khanna, to contest the poll in Punjab. Mr Sodhi and Mr Kamal Choudhary were two other recommended persons. But on July 21, Mr Sodhi made another statement at Phillaur that the five-member state poll panel of the Punjab BJP will finalise the list of names of the BJP candidates for the seats to be contested by the party in Punjab on August 1 at a meeting to be held in Chandigarh. The recommendations made by the August 1 meeting will be sent to the party high command for a final announcement. Sources in the BJP said the party high command was not happy the way the Punjab leadership made an announcement at Phagwara on July 17 about the renomination of candidates for Punjab seats. Certain leaders of the Punjab unit of the BJP took up the matter with the party high command, which reportedly conveyed to the state leadership to call a proper meeting of the State Election Committee to make recommendations for Punjab seats. Hence the convening of the meeting on August 1. It is a known fact that
there are two factions within the state unit of the BJP.
Mr L.K. Advani, Home Minister, had called certain senior
leaders of both factions to Delhi to tell them that they
should not fight, but strengthen the party. But Mr
Advani's advice had no effect on leaders. |
||
A dream project gone sour KALJHARANI (Bathinda): This is the story of a dream project started in this backward village; a mere speck situated on the Bathinda-Badal road. The village is unique not only because here an experiment on integrated rural development and self-employment has been started, but also because this is the place where the person who dreamt the project was born. He is none other than the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. The project infrastructure itself is like an oasis. The brick-red buildings and the solar lighting are quite in contrast with the actual village life, a picture of abject poverty. Will the socio-economic transformation plan remain on paper? A visit to this project, however, proved a bit disappointing given the fact that having created an asset there is no follow-up, no motivation and no interest either among the government agencies concerned or the entrepreneurs who stand to benefit. Before this dream project becomes a nightmare and acts as a damper for further replication (Mr Parkash Singh is keen that depending on the success, the project, with appropriate modifications, be replicated in all districts), will someone care to have a second look at it? Take, for instance, the civil dispensary. This as well as the adjacent handloom centre is on the other side of the project campus alongside 15-odd shops, which have been rented out. But the one housing the office of the nodal agency — District Rural Development Agency — remains locked. A look inside the dispensary speaks for itself. Never has any male doctor has been posted here. The lady doctor has been on leave since April. There is a temporary power connection. Only four ceiling fans have been installed. There are practically no light bulbs. Though labels have been written on every door indicating operation theatre, male and female wards, pharmacy, toilet, laboratory etc. Inside these rooms are a handful of broken, dust-laden pieces of furniture and soiled bed-sheets. On a hospital bed are spread a few medicine boxes. The pharmacist, who mans the Rs 10-lakh (construction cost) dispensary, is helpless in the absence of a doctor. Knowing the futility of a visit, the people are forced to go elsewhere. At the handloom centre, out of 36 looms only 12 are functional, where 25 local women and girls are undergoing training at the hands of master weaver Raj Kumar of Panipat. A loom is shared by two trainees, who have been promised a stipend of Rs 500 per month by the Weaver Service Centre, Panipat, and Rs 250 per month by the Punjab Small Industries Export Corporation (PSIEC), which is responsible for supplying the yarn, marketing, giving share from sale proceeds and self-employment. Mrs Amarjit Kaur, a middle-aged woman, articulating the sentiments of the women working here, says instead of three months, her training period was extended to seven months. Stipend was paid for just three months by the PSIEC, while, the stipend for going to Panipat is yet to be received. For nearly two months the PSIEC did not send the required yarn. What arrived was of poor quality. Dyeing was done by them at their own cost. During the past few months, they have made nearly 65 sheets, 85 khes and 120 durries. All these items have been stocked in the store. There has been no effort to sell them off. These trainees are doubly unblessed, says Mrs Amarjit Kaur with tears rolling down her face. "Menfolk accuse us of neglecting household work, children and not getting any financial help for the family. The handloom training lasts from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m". Almost all women say with one voice that they should be paid their stipend and sale money share on a fixed date, irrespective of the fact whether the products are sold or not. Moreover, they were opposed to being treated as daily-wagers. Despondency was clearly writ on their faces. What retains them is just hope. Ironically, whenever "Minister sahib" (Mr Parkash Singh) is here, Mrs Amarjit Kaur misses the handloom centre work. This results in "cuts" in her remuneration. Is it not unfair? Take the 12 dairy sheds allotted to village youth, all matriculates and were RMPs, as part of the self-employment scheme. One of them, Lakhwinder Singh, said the loan given at 14 per cent interest, varied from Rs 1.80 lakh to Rs 4.38 lakh, by the Primary Agricultural Development Bank. Several of them have got loan of Rs 3.40 lakh, depending upon the number of cows. He is a dejected person today like others. He rues that against the 10 cross-bred Holstein Freisen cows promised only "desi" cows were given. The milk yield is low, barely 10-12 kg per cow. The net saving at the end of the month after meeting labour and other costs come to Rs 500 only. At least in 50 per cent cases the dairy loan has been "misutilised". The 12 sheds have about 80 to 85 cows. Milking is done in a parlour with machines. But there is dispute over payment of electricity charges. The sheds constructed based on Israeli technique and technology have been found to be unsuitable both for summer and winter. "It would have been better had we been given a job rather than this dairy business", remarked Lakhwinder Singh. One wonders when the returns are low how will these youth repay the loan. Another debt-trap? The project idea is good, so is the effort to do something for the people. All credit to Mr Parkash Singh. But it needs a critical appraisal now that one year has gone by on what went wrong where and why. Accountability has to be fixed. The veterinary doctor posted here, Dr Nirbahi Singh, attends to health care of the dairy cattle as well as other animals in the village. He told TNS that due to deficiency of "copper," milch animals had low milk yield and suffered from related diseases. Infertility was common. Blood cells were mostly damaged. In fact, nearly 25 female calves have died so far in the project shed area. Most of the built-up
infrastructure is locked up. It is hoped next time Mr
Parkash Singh visits his birth place, he would meet
officials of the agencies concerned for a correct report;
no excuses, ifs and buts. Since multiple agencies are
involved, it is pertinent that such projects do not go up
in smoke, sending wrong signals to the unemployed and
educated youth. |
||
Labourers were given biscuits JALANDHAR, July 28 — Some of the unconscious Bihari labourers found yesterday in the Amritsar-Barauani train, have gained consciousness. Some claimed that an unidentified Bihari gave them some biscuits, before they lost consciousness. The condition of some patients in the Civil Hospital is reported to be serious. Twelve are in the emergency ward; and 13 in medical ward. The Railway Police SP, Mr Amrit Parsad, who visited the Civil Hospital today, said a case had been registered, but a thorough investigation will commence only when all labourers gained consciousness.The police said more than Rs 10,000 had been found from the 25 unconscious migrants. However, a few migrants interviewed by UNI revealed that each of them was carrying between Rs 1000 to 5000. Baspat Choudhary of Motihari district said he had Rs 4000 in the underpocket of his trouser, adding that he had another Rs 100 along with a ticket to Muzzafarpur and a diary on him when he boarded the train at Amritsar railway station. Yesterday two men each were dumped on a single bed in the hospital and half of them were not put on glucose drip. But media interest forced the hospital authorities to look after them well today. Now all of them have a bed to himself with a clean sheet and glucose drip to wash away the effect of what doctors believed to be balladona, popularly called "dhatoora" or "bhang". Consumption of balladona creates confusion in the mind and then leads to drowsiness. The intoxicant made one's mind irritable and also blurred vision. All these symptoms were evident in most of the victims. Some of them thought they were still in the train, others thought they had boarded the train at Amritsar this morning. All migrants were travelling in the unreserved general compartment. Prima facie all of them seemed to have been drugged before they boarded the train. While some said that they had biscuits or biscuit-like things in the morning, others said that they had chapatis for breakfast. Several of the migrants had come from Nangal, where they worked in quarries, to Beas or Amritsar, but all of them had boarded the train from Amritsar. The police was looking
for Hira whom they suspected of involvement in drugging
them. But Baspat Choudhary, one of the victims, said Hira
was in their group of six who came from Nangal to Beas. |
||
95 fake IVPs seized, 2 held JALANDHAR, July 28 — The police has made a breakthrough in the case relating to the printing and sale of fake Indira Vikas Patras (IVPs) with the arrest of two more persons and the recovery of IVPs from them. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said here today that a number of banks in the city had been cheated by a well-organised gang, whose members obtained loans amounting to Rs 2.28 crore from different banks by pledging 12,825 Indira Vikas Patras. The pledged IVPs were later traced to be part of the 6,00,000 IVPs/KVPs/NSCs stolen from Patna Railway Station in December, 1995, while in transit from Nasik to Guwahati. Nine cases were registered in this regard and Mr Gautam Cheema, IPS, Superintendent of Police (EOW), had been entrusted with the investigation of these cases and a special team, consisting of Inspector Gian Singh, SI Mandeep Singh, ASI Hussain Lal and HCS Baljit Singh, Narinder Kumar and Jagir Singh, was constituted. Mr Yadav said that the grilling of a Amritsar resident Raman Kumar, who was arrested in the connection with the Rs 300 crore racket in May last, not only led to the recovery of 95 forged IVPs, but also the arrest of two more accused, also residents of Amritsar. They were Sunil Dhanuka and Raj Kumar Pandit. Raman Kumar had confessed that he had brought these fake IVPs from Patna, where a gang of racketeers operated in the sale of fake IVPs and also the genuine one stolen from the train. The SSP said Sunil Dhanuka, a cloth merchant of Amritsar, who had suffered heavy losses in business, came in contact with Raman Kumar, who used to sell or pledge IVPs at one-third of the face value. Sunil Dhanuka also joined hands with Raman Kumar in the crime. Raj Kumar Pandit, who indulged in illegal sale of sales tax forms, also found the IVP business more profitable and took to the crime to make a fast buck. Raman Kumar, who had already been booked in case of cheating and fraud, has now, along with his Amritsar accomplices, been booked in a fresh case registered here on July 26. Naresh Kapoor, who, along with the others, had conned several banks by raising loans of over Rs 2 crore by pledging stolen IVPs of the maturity value of more than Rs 6 crore in December, 1997, was arrested in January last year. But Kapoor had escaped from custody of the Jalandhar police from Amritsar's Government Guru Nanak Hospital on March 26 last and has absconded. Kapoor's alleged
accomplices, Balwinder Singh of Fateh Nagar in West
Delhi, Ashwani Kumar and Bhupesh Kumar, were also wanted
in several cases of cheating and fraud registered by the
police. |
||
4 mental hospital inmates
discharged AMRITSAR, July 28 — With a view to streamline the functioning of the local mental hospital, the Visitors Committee today decided to discharge at least four inmates, who had reportedly been 'cured'. Seven patients, languishing in criminal wards even after the completion of their sentences, were shifted to general ward where they would be free to work in the hospital's workshop and communicate with others. Apart from this the Visitors Committee has recommended to release as many as 40 inmates on parole. The meeting was attended by Mr Narinderjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner; Mrs Laxmi Kanta Chawla, a BJP MLA; Mr Banarsi Dass Arora, president Seva Bharti; Mr Rahi, a manager of Pingalwara; Mr Surinder Kumar Sharma, a municipal councillor; and Dr V.K. Khurana, medical superintendent of the hospital. The Visitors Committee also urged the Deputy Commissioner to write letters to his Haryana counterpart for handing over Meena Kumari to her heir as she stood discharged from the hospital. The other three inmates discharged from the hospital are: Parveen Kumar, Raghbir Singh and Satnam Singh. Mrs Laxmi Kanta Chawla said a letter was being written to the Inspector General (Prisons), on behalf of the committee for providing adequate medicare facilities to the mentally ill inmates sent back to jails after treatment. The meeting expressed concern over inadequate availability of medicines in the hospital. The committee has also decided to write to the registrars of Himachal Pradesh High Court, Punjab and Haryana High Court for directing the jail authorities in Himachal and Haryana to take back the criminal patients, under treatment at local mental hospital. According to Mrs Chawla, most of the patients belonging to Himachal and Haryana had been cured and were able to face trials in courts. Mrs Chawla alleged that due to the callous attitude of the authorities concerned many patients admitted in criminal wards were not being produced in courts. "Many of them are fit for facing the trial", she claimed. It was decided at the
meeting to involve the village panchayats for handing
over the cured patients to their guardians. The meeting
expressed concerned over the fact that the guardians were
not ready to take the patients back even after they were
cured. |
||
Ghaggar to be canalised PATIALA, July 28 — A high-powered committee of senior officers deputed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to review the flood situation in Patiala and Sangrur district, today announced that the Ghaggar river would be canalised downstream from Khanauri to Moonak to tackle the problem of frequent floods during the rainy season. Briefing newsmen after visiting flood prone areas in both districts and holding a meeting of senior officers. Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Shyama Mann and Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Bikramjit Singh said the Ghaggar would be dug up from Khanauri to Moonak to increase its capacity to 40,000 cusecs. He said bandhs would be made on its embankments by acquiring land to canalise the river. Mr Bikramjit Singh said a survey would be started to finalise the scheme. Actual work on the scheme would be started by October. When asked why the same scheme, which had been formulated last year also, could not take off earlier, he said the government had applied for a Rs 25 crore loan from NABARD but the loan amount had been received late due to which work on canalisation could not take place. Mr Bikramjit Sing said two more long-term options were also being considered which included construction of a dam at Pinjore and building a barrage at Dera Bassi. While building of the dam would involve coordination of the Haryana Government which was not forthcoming till yet, the barrage at Dera Bassi would involve a cost of Rs 40 crore besides money spent on acquiring 2,000 acres of land. The construction of a barrage was a likely long-term plan as two canals could be created by it to take water to Banur, Ghanaur and Rajpura. Earlier, at a meeting of senior officers of Patiala and Sangrur, which was held here, the issue of the disputed bandh constructed by villagers of Hotipur village was also taken up. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir said a bandh built by the village of Sangrur district at Hotipur could endanger the Bhakra mainline at Khanauri whose embankment level was at the same height as that of the bandh at 760 feet at present. However, the Sangrur Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anirudh Tewari claimed that the heading up of water at Khanauri did not affect the villages of Patiala this season. Water had entered few villages of Sangrur district even though only 15,000 cusecs of water was being released by the syphon taking the Ghaggar water from underneath the Bhakra mainline at Khanauri. If the bandh was done away with and water allowed to flow freely into Sangrur, the damaged could be much more. The Principal Secretary, Irrigation, assured that he would shortly call a meeting with the Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners of Patiala and Sangrur besides the Technical Officer to arrive at a solution to the problem. Other members of the
high-powered committee were Additional Principal
Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Sarvesh Kaushal, and
Mr V.N. Ojha, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry. The
Divisional Commissioner, Mr D.S. Kalha, accompanied the
team to visit flood-prone areas. |
||
Jewellery shop looted PATIALA, July 28 — Armed robbers today looted a jewellery shop in the busy Leela Bhavan market here. The robbers, armed with country-made weapons and daggers, made away with the entire gold jewellery from the Satgur Aapo Aap Jewellers shop situated opposite the residences of the Deputy Commissioner and the district police chief around 2.30 p.m. They, however, did not touch any silver ornaments. The shop owner, Mr Raman Puri, and his uncle, Mr Suresh Kumar, who were the only two present in the shop at the time of the robbery, were injured after being hit by pistol buts. They were locked up in the strongroom, whose wooden door was locked by the robbers before making their exit. Both of them raised an alarm after breaking open the door to get out. The robbery seems to have been the work of an insider as the robbers had full knowledge about the shop and its strongroom. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr Sanjeev Gupta, said first one boy came into the shop on the pretext of buying ornaments. A little later, more boys entered the shop and looted it at gunpoint. The DIG said the shop owner had also been able to give an accurate description of one of the robbers, whose computer sketch was being prepared. The robbers were cleanshaven and spoke in Hindi. He said the robbers had been carrying country made pistols. Meanwhile, the daylight
robbery created a feeling of insecurity in the entire
Leela Bhavan market. Mr Subhash Sahoonja, who runs a
restaurant adjoining the jewellers, said the robbery was
conducted in such a manner that even the few people
roaming in front of the shop could not notice anything.
Moreover, the shop did not have a security guard and its
main door and windows were of smoked glass, which
hindered visibility from outside. |
||
Faridkot poll FARIDKOT, July 28 — Even as the two major parties of the state, the SAD and Congress, are yet to announce their candidates for the Faridkot parliamentary constituency, Mr Sukhbir Badal and Mr Jagmeet Brar, the prospective candidates of the parties have already started canvassing informally. Both Mr Badal and Mr Brar have been addressing village-level and "nukkad" meetings for the past many days. With the elections approaching near, the local political alignments have started taking shape. The SAD camp is happy over the return of Mr Mantar Singh Brar, an independent MLA from Kotkapura, into party's fold while Mr Jagmeet Brar is trying to cash in on the resentment being expressed in the SAD rank and file after the inclusion of Mr Mantar back into the party. The Lok Sabha election for the seat has always been the centre of attention for people in the state and in neighbouring states as the result here has a direct effect on the future course of politics in the state. Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, who won this seat in 1992, lost to Mr Sukhbir Badal in 1996 and 1998. In 1996 Mr Brar, who faced triangular contest as an independent candidate, got 1,93,441 votes. He was on the third place as Mr Kanwaljit Kaur Brar, an official candidate, got second position with 2,67,811 votes. Mr Sukhbir Badal had won the seat and got 3,05,669 votes. In 1998, in a direct contest Mr Brar got about 4 lakh votes and he lost to Mr Sukhbir Badal by merely about 35,000 votes. In the informal campaigning, Mr Sukhbir Badal has been trying to woo the voters on the basis of development, which he with the support of his father Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had brought about in the area. He has been stressing on setting up a medical university in Faridkot, a computer centre in Jaitu, sugar mill in Malout, eradication of water-logging from Muktsar district and various other projects. Mr Brar on the other hand is raising the issue of rampant corruption, atrocities on Dalits and highlighting the failure of the so called foundation stones and no development projects. Mr Gurcharan Singh
Tohra, president of the Sarv Hind Shiromani Akali Dal
said his party would also field its candidate from the
constituency to ensure the defeat of Mr Sukhbir Badal. |
||
Badal using police to
terrorise party men: Tohra CHANDIGARH, July 28 — Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHAD), here today alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was using the police to terrorise his party activists in various parts of the state. He said all this was being done in panic by the Badal Government which was getting no response from the electorate in the rallies being organised in connection with poll campaign. Urging the Election Commission of India to take immediate steps for preventing such actions of the Punjab Government, Mr Tohra said the police last night conducted raids at the residences of at least 12 leaders belonging to his party. Among the leaders whose residences were raided were Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bulara, a former MP. Mr Tohra said the motive
behind such raids was to paint his party's activists as
"extremists and anti-social elements." |
||
Badal govt working will be
‘key issue’ CHANDIGARH, July 28 — The foreign origin of Mrs Sonia Gandhi will not be a poll issue at least in Punjab. This was observed here today by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal. Asked what will be the main issue in the coming elections in Punjab, Mr Tohra said the "performance" of the Badal government would be the dominating issue. Mr Badal was trying his best to make Mrs Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin an election issue in Punjab. All this was being done to hedge the issues pertaining to Punjab which the Badal government had failed to resolve, Mr Tohra said. There was a scare among the Sikhs settled abroad with regard to statements by Mr Badal raising the issue of foreign origin of Mrs Gandhi. "Only a few days ago I toured various parts of the USA, Canada and met a cross section of Sikhs. They said Mr Badal was creating problems for them at political level by questioning the origin of Mrs Gandhi", Mr Tohra added. "Sikhs settled abroad hold important political offices and they say taking a clue from Mr Badal, political parties in the USA, the UK and Canada may question the origin of Sikhs and ask for banning the holding of key political offices by them." Mr Badal and his associates would be asked in the elections, what Punjab had gained under their rule? What BJP-led Government at the Centre had given to Punjab in the past one year or so? Neither Chandigarh has been transferred to Punjab nor the issue of Udham Singh Nagar has been resolved. The transfer of Punjabi-speaking areas remained unresolved, and the same was the case with regard to river waters issue. Even the financial aid of Rs 300 crore promised to Punjabi farmers who suffered loss due to damage to their paddy crop had not been given, Mr Tohra said. All these issues would be pivotal in the coming poll. "We will expose the Badal government on several fronts", Mr Tohra asserted. Punjab was deep in financial mess, its process had been halted and unemployment had gone up many fold and no modern industry had come to the state. Asked about his party's
alliance with other parties, Mr Tohra said negotiations
were on with certain parties to make the anti-Badal front
more formidable. |
||
JD (Yadav) men join Gowda FEROZEPORE, July 28 — Janata Dal, Punjab (Yadav faction) leaders yesterday joined the Deve Gowda faction. Prof Darshan Singh, Vice-President of the state unit who also deserted said here that he along with other leaders had deserted the party in protest against wrong policies of Mr Sharad Yadav. According to Prof Darshan Singh, those who have deserted the Yadav group are: Sathi Roop Lal, a former president of the state unit, and Mr Harish Khanna, all vice presidents of the state unit, Mr Jaspal Singh Kapoor, general secretary of the state unit and Master Avtar Singh, the party’s state office secretary. He added that members of the national council of the party who had deserted and joined the Deve Gowda faction were: Mr Gurdev Singh Brar (Muktsar), Mr Pyare Lal (Moga), Mr Kuldip Singh Galib and Mr Rajinder Dutta (Ludhiana) and Mr Vasnik Singh Chawla (Amritsar), and said all district presidents had also joined the Deve Gowda group. Prof Darshan Singh
accused that both Mr Sharad Yadav and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan
were opportunists and had joined hands with communal
forces for their vested interests, the Deve Gowda’s
faction was the "real" Janata Dal which had
kept equal distance from the Congress and the BJP as
well. |
||
First Indian woman to attend
world maths conference AMRITSAR, July 28 — Dr Pammy Manchanda, Reader in the Department of Mathematics, Guru Nanak Dev University, has the distinction of being the first woman mathematician of the country to attend the fourth International Congress of Industrial and Applied Mathematics in Edinburgh. The conference is held every four years to evaluate the progress in the field of mathematics and highlight the emerging areas. The first congress as organised in Washington in 1991 and the 5th is scheduled to be held in Sydney, Australia in July 2003. More than 2000 delegates from different parts of the world are attending the congress. This congress was inaugurated by the Duke of Edinburgh and the keynote address was delivered by the Minister of Science and Technology, U.K. Participants deliberated on the role of mathematics in financial analysis, challenging problems in information technology and environment and the study of human behaviour. Dr Manchanda delivered a
talk on "Current Researches on Financial Derivatives
in Afro-Asian countries". She was the first Indian
to deliver a talk at the congress. |
||
Badal pays tributes to Mata
Tej Kaur BATALA, July 28 — A large number of people from all walks of life joined the 'shardhanjali samaroh' in memory of Mata Tej Kaur, mother of Mr Sewa Singh Sekhon, at her native village of Sekhwan here today. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, his Cabinet colleagues and other prominent leaders were present. Paying rich tributes to Mata Tej Kaur, the Chief Minister said that she had devoted her life for the service of humanity, following the true path of 'guru ghar'. The noble and virtuous life of Mata Tej Kaur was worth emulating for creating health and homely environments in our society. Mata Tej Kaur had lived an ideal life of a successful wife of late Ujagar Singh Sekhwan, a great champion of human and secular values, and an ideal mother. Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, and Jathedar Kewal Singh of Takht Damdama Sahib highlighted the role of a mother in a social set-up and her contribution in shaping the life of an individual. Prominent among those who paid tributes to Mata Tej Kaur were Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Rajya Sabha, member, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Mr Sucha Singh Langah (all ministers) and leaders of different political parties. JALANDHAR (PTI): Mr Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state would be threatened by the coming together of a former SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Akali leaders, Mr S.S. Mann and Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The proposed front forged by Mr Tohra, Mr Mann and Mr Wadala along with the BSP would pose 'serious danger' to the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in Punjab, he told newsmen here. Mr Badal said he would take up the issue of exemption for Sikh women from wearing helmets with the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, on an immediate basis. "I would talk to
Advani today itself to sort out the issue. Punjab has
already issued a notification exempting women from
wearing helmets", he said. |
||
1 arrested for abducting girl BATALA, July 28 — The police here has managed to arrest Manjit Singh who had allegedly abducted Manjit Kaur from Assam. The girl was found from his custody at the time of arrest. A wireless message was received from police station, Bisastha, Kamroop (Assam) district that Manjit Singh had abducted a girl, Manjit Kaur, Bakarmara, in Kamroop district and was reportedly heading for Punjab. On receipt of information the police kept special round-the-clock vigil at railway station and bus stands. They were directed to keep an eye on any suspicious could and report back to the SSP and the district police control room. The SSP, Mr L.N. Angra, told mediapersons that on July 21 the accused got down from a bus with the girl at Adda Dalam and Sub-Inspector. Balwinder Singh, who was present there, grew suspicious as the girl's behaviour was not normal. The suspicions were confirmed when both were brought to the police station. Further investigation revealed that Manjit Singh, a resident of Sangera, used to work as a domestic servant with some business family in Amritsar. About two years back he stole Rs 4,000 from them and escaped to Assam. There he started working with a music party and developed contacts with the abducted girl. Finally he abducted her and came here. A case has been
registered under Section 366, IPC, at police station,
Bisastha. The accused was taken into custody under
Section 109, IPC, and remanded in judicial custody. |
||
SAD (B) candidate starts
campaign FATEHGARH SAHIB, July 28 — The SAD (B) candidate for Ropar (reserve) constituency, Mrs Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, launched her election campaign in the district today by organising a political conference at Nogawan village, 15 km from here. The conference was organised by Rajesh Paul Singh Lalli and Didar Singh Bhatti, senior Akali leader. Interestingly, none of the other groups of SAD (B), including Mr R.S. Chemma, former minister and district president of the dal and supporter of Capt. Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, attended today's conference. While addressing a rural gathering Mrs Dhaliwal said this election was totally different from the earlier elections contested by the SAD because, this time some of "our own men" were making efforts to defeat the SAD (B) and had even made a secret alliance with the Congress. She said it was for the public to decide whether they wanted a foreign national, who did not even know "our" language and culture, to be the Prime Minister of our country or that a person who had sacrificed everything for the country. She called upon the people not to be influenced by petty local issues and keep the larger interest of the country in mind during elections. She said the state government had initiated various development and public benefit schemes and it was committed to the all round development of the state. She assured that the scarcity of water and power would end soon as the Thein dam would be operational soon. Addressing the gathering, Mr Ravi Inder Singh in charge of the Ropar (reserve) seat, said the country had won the Kargil fight only due to the able guidance of the Prime Minister and that the Congress had no capable leader to lead the country. Mr Balwant Singh, MLA,
Shahpur, Mr Didar Singh Bhatti, Mr Rajesh Paul Singh
Lalli and other sarpanches and panches also addressed the
conference. |
||
BSP-SHSAD nominee HOSHIARPUR, July 28 — Mr Hakesh Gujjar, Sarpanch of Makhupur village in Balachaur sub-division has been declared the BSP and Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal candidate for the Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency. Dr Shanker Dass was declared as his covering candidate. This announcement was made by Mr Avtar Singh Karimpuri, General Secretary of the BSP, Punjab, at a press conference here yesterday. Mr Harbans Singh Manjpuri, member of the executive committee of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Harjinder Singh Dhami, President district unit of the SHSAD, Mr Bhagwan Singh Chohan, President, district unit of the BSP, Mr Mohinder Pal, President city unit of the BSP, Mr Harbhajan Lakha, former MP and many other local leaders of the BSP and the SHASAD were also present at the press conference. Mr Karimpuri said the
BSP would contest from Hoshiarpur, Phillaur and
Ferozepore constituencies in Punjab. He said Dr Mohan
Singh Phalianwala, former MP would be the BSP candidate
for the Ferozepore seat. |
||
Punjab teachers wait for
salaries HOSHIARPUR, July 28 — Despite the tall claims by Punjab ministers that there is no financial crisis in Punjab, almost all the departments in the state are facing shortage of funds. The office staff of the District Education Officer (Secondary) and teachers of all the senior, high and middle schools in the state have not received their salaries even for June. The pay bills of July 99 have also been returned by the Treasury Office for want of budgetary allotment. This has created a lot of frustration and resentment among the teaching and non-teaching staff of the department. According to the
official sources, the state had allotted annual budget of
Rs 8.12 crore for the salaries of the office staff of the
secondary wing of the department for the current
financial year as against the required budget of about Rs
11 crore. Similarly it had allotted about Rs 52.75 crore
for the salaries of teachers of the same wing for the
current financial year as against the required budget of
about Rs 105.50 crore. Sources said the office and the
teaching staff of the secondary wing had almost consumed
the entire allotted amount by submitting declaration
certificates by the drawing and disbursing officers and
there was no fund available now with them. |
||
WSC issues : Mann called to
Amritsar CHANDIGARH, July 28 — Giani Puran Singh, Jathedar of Akal Takht, has called Mr Jaswant Singh Mann, Founder, General-Secretary of the World Sikh Council (WSC), to Amritsar on July 31 for discussing the issues pertaining to the council. Earlier Giani Puran Singh had held a meeting with Justice Kuldeep Singh (retd) in this connection. Informed sources said here today that Mr Mann would go to meet the Jathedar on the due date. Sources said various quarters connected with the WSC had requested Giani Puran Singh to convene a general house of the council on a day suitable to him for holding elaborate discussion about the council. The opinion emerging at
the general house should be implemented to resolve the
ongoing dispute in the council. |
||
Strike by bus drivers JALANDHAR, July 28 (PTI)
— Enraged by the sudden suspension of a driver for
refusing to put in extra duty hours, drivers and
conductors of Punjab Roadways bus depot here went on a
sudden strike blocking traffic for about five hours, the
police said. The blockade, which
continued from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., was lifted only after
an assurance from senior officials about resolving the
drivers’ grievance. |
||
 |
||
 |
| Nation
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
