Friday, June 18, 1999
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Friday, June 18, 1999 |
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Bid to blast public
places in Punjab HOSHIARPUR, June 17 — The district police has successfully foiled a conspiracy of the Babbar Khalsa Jathebandi to blast important public places and eliminate VIPs in Punjab when it arrested a member of this force last night. Kargil fires patriotism BATHINDA, June 17 — "Dear respected aunti, I am, herewith enclosing a cheque for Rs 500 on the Bank of Punjab which I saved from my pocket money. The money is as gesture. |
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Directive on border situation Fulfil every need, field officers told CHANDIGARH, June 17 — Taking cognisance of the migration of people from villages within 2 to 3 km of the Indo-Pakistan border in view of the fear psychosis among people following intensification of Operation Vijay in Kargil, the Punjab Government has mobilised its field officers to ensure that every possible help is extended to the people and their genuine demands are met so that the morale high. Wadala advocates UN intervention
Appointments
spark row in DCC Senior
Cong leaders troop to Delhi Badal
inaugurates power substation Entrance
test for 11 courses scrapped Punjab
Govt may hike allowance Senior
railway official held Freedom
fighter dead Patwaris
to launch ‘jail bharo’ stir |
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Bid to blast public places
in Punjab HOSHIARPUR, June 17 — The district police has successfully foiled a conspiracy of the Babbar Khalsa Jathebandi to blast important public places and eliminate VIPs in Punjab when it arrested a member of this force last night. Mr R.P. Mittal, SSP, Hoshiarpur, disclosed to mediapersons here today the Khalistan Kashmir Jehad Force which was being supported by the Babbar Khalsa Jathebandi had a plan to blast important public places and murder VIPs in Punjab. He said keeping in view this information and in order to foil this conspiracy special checks had been started. He said that during a special check by the sadar police at about 11.30 pm last night a scooter driver was instructed to stop. The pillion rider at once jumped from the scooter and escaped under cover of darkness. The naka party caught the driver who was later identified as Balwinder Singh, alias Billu, alias Baj, son of Dalip Singh Jat, resident of Bhagowal village in Hariana. The scooter was without a number plate. A search of the scooter revealed 16 packets of RDX weighing about 8 kg, 10 electronic detonators, 10 non-electronic detonators, two plastic caps, two pencil bombs and one roll of tape. He said a case under Section s 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act was registered in this connection. The SSP said during preliminary interrogation Balwinder Singh confessed his relations with Punjab terrorists. He came in contact with Didar Singh, alias Dari, alias Baba, of Babbar Khalsa Jathebandi and remained in touch with him in Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib and Hazoor Sahib. He came with Jarnail Singh to Jalandhar in October 1998 where he met two persons sent by Didar Singh from Pakistan. All of them went to Jammu in a bus from where they went to Kathua in the evening. From Kathua they left for Pakistan and after crossing the forests they entered the Pakistani territory at 4 a.m. Two main leaders of Babbar Khalsa Jathebandi were present in a car there to receive them. They took them to Lahore where they stayed in a house for a month. At least seven to eight Punjabi boys were already residing there but they did not disclose their identity. Later, they were imparted training in handling different weapons, including AK-47 rifles and bombs etc, in forests. They were also imparted training in blasting bridges and railway lines and murdering important leaders so that maximum damage could be done to the government after their return to India. After three weeks they were again brought in the house where they had stayed earlier. In January 1999 he along with Bittu, alias Cheema, and one more person who seemed to be Pakistani crossed the border adjoining Samba. After entering Indian territory Cheema kept the weapons and handed over the ammunition to Balwinder Singh. He was told to make links with the sources whose names were given to him by Didar Singh, alias Dari, to receive further information about the future programme. He informed the source that he had reached with ammunition at his destination safely. The SSP said Balwinder Singh dumped the ammunition in the forest area of his village. When he again approached the source he was advised to slip away due to intensive checking by the police. He then went to Madhya Pradesh to his relatives and after three months came back to Punjab. About four-five days
back an unidentified boy came to him with a message from
Didar Singh, asking him to be ready for an operation. He
said yesterday the same boy on scooter met him on the
Jalandhar Pathankot road. Both came to his village, dug
up the ammunition and were going on a scooter when the
police naka party arrested him and his accomplice
escaped. The SSP said interrogation was going on. |
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Kargil fires patriotism BATHINDA, June 17 — "Dear respected aunti, I am, herewith enclosing a cheque for Rs 500 on the Bank of Punjab which I saved from my pocket money. The money is as gesture. I also pray for long life for you and all members of your family who have lost a great son of out country during the recent continuing conflict with Pak." These are the words of letter written by Nikhil Sood of Moga to Alka Ahuja, widow of Ajay Ahuja, a fighter pilot, who had been killed by the Pakistani Army in the Kargil operation on May. The sacrifices being made by the Indian soldiers to vacate the Indian territory of Kargil area in Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani backed infiltrators seems to have revived the national spirit among the public of this border state. Most parents who have lost their sons in the Kargil sector in the recent past want that their other children be recruited to the Army so that they too could defend the frontiers of the country. On the other hand, government employees have offered one day's salary for the "War Heroes Family Welfare Fund. Many voluntary organisation have started collecting blood for soldiers wounded in the conflict. Nihal Kaur mother of Lance Naik Gurbhej Singh of Dhudhi village of Faridkot district, who was martyred while fighting against intruders in the Kargil area recently says "I am proud of my son. I want to send my other son Jagroop Singh to the Army for protecting the boundaries of the country." "Pakistan should be taught a lesson for making repeated mischief. We now want to join the armed forces and remain glued to our television sets to get the latest information on the Kargil area", says Vishal Singla, a teenager. His friends second his view. Another teenager, Parveen Kumar, says the Indian government should not compromise with Pakistan on the Kargil issue and the nuisance of Pakistan should be crushed forever. Residents of Bhisiana
air force station where fighter pilot, Ajay Ahuja was
posted as squadron leader have even written a poem to pay
their homage to their colleague. |
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Malady worse than TB JALANDHAR: Has the much-hyped Punjab health system collapsed? Yes if you see the local Civil Hospital, which has virtually dumped its patients suffering from TB under a banyan tree for the past two months. These emaciated souls have been living under the tree in sweltering heat as the authorities neither foresaw nor gave a thought about accommodating these patients when they ordered the old building, which housed their ward, to be demolished. A typical bureaucratic attitude, and yes, when TNS visited them, patients were lying on their broken beds, breathing laboriously, while inhaling mud as their designated ward under the open sky in next, to the place where heaps of mud are being dumped. Did someone say that TB patients should stay away from dust, but then someone also said that sweltering heat is not conducive to TB patients. Remember, the sanatoriums are in hill stations. But who cares for us?, says 46-year-old Kamaljeet Sharma. He is one of the seriously ill patients with asthma. "I have been here for the past six months. I came here to get treatment. Says Gopal Das, who cannot walk as he can barely breathe. I tread along for food, they give us." We get four rotis and this watery dal". We have never been served these savouries. Sometimes, with small change pooling we buy tea, sugar, and milk, and make tea. That is a real party, smiles Joginder Mehta, who alleges that even medicines are not given to them. 62-year-old Mast Ram and Charan Singh endorse the allegation of unavailability of drugs for treatment. They have yet another grouse against the nurses: "They harass and ridicule us". Madan Lal who was prescribed glucose two months ago, is still waiting for it. The other amenities such as water is drunk from the tap in the dirty dingy lavatory, which incidentally has a thick growth of grass growing in front. Snakes, cockroaches and stars give us company. No one else comes here. "You see these patients have been abandoned by their families and relatives and they are society's untouchables, reason Dr M.D. Balli and Dr Rajiv Sharma, who also admit that, since months the TB patients have living out in the open. Where is the money going, crores supposedly being spent on TB patients? This is not the only question which emerges after you interact with the health authorities here. But the tragedy is that
the civil surgeon, doctors, and the Health Minister
— Mr Manoranjan Kalia — who incidentally hails
from here are all aware that the patients have been
dumped, and embarrassingly no one is embarrassed. |
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Directive on border situation CHANDIGARH, June 17 — Taking cognisance of the migration of people from villages within 2 to 3 km of the Indo-Pakistan border in view of the fear psychosis among people following intensification of Operation Vijay in Kargil, the Punjab Government has mobilised its field officers to ensure that every possible help is extended to the people and their genuine demands are met so that the morale high. The border villagers have already suffered in the 1965 and 1971 wars and people there know best what they are doing. The Chief Secretary has written to the Divisional Commissioners of Jalandhar and Ferozepore enlisting certain steps that are required to be taken and to instil confidence in the people by informing them that war is not expected in the near future. The officers are expected to play a "proactive, constant and intensive role" and remain in touch with the people facing hardships. The listed points, as per a government press note, include ensuring small teams of gazetted officers, both civil and police, visit the border villages once in two days to lend villagers their ears and report back to the Deputy Commissioners as to what are their needs. The officials in the field in the border districts must attend office regularly and remain accessible. All reasonable demands and needs for the people’s welfare must be met with. The main demand of the people pertains to agriculture as the paddy transplantation season is on. Villagers need power for flood irrigation, temporary tubewell connections, etc. These inputs have to be ensured. At the same time security and the safety of the houses and property left locked in the villages has to be provided. Besides all this, medical facilities and a regular dialogue between the people and the civil authorities and the BSF is a must. A proper tab needs to be kept on those who have migrated from where to which place so that communication is maintained. From the social security and economic necessity angle, poor persons who have nowhere to go should be housed in proper camps which should have facilities for food and other things. They should also make available the phone numbers of key officials to village sarpanches. At the same time, proper briefing is required for the villagers in case hostilities break out and to meet such eventualities. The Chief Secretary,
whose office monitors the situation in the border belt,
expects the total involvement of the Divisional
Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and other field staff
to assist the people. Border villages and the people are
to be accorded top priority at present, the letter
concludes. |
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Wadala advocates UN
intervention JALANDHAR, June 17 — Mediation by the UN in the ongoing Kargil crisis between India and Pakistan, has been advocated by Mr Kuldeep Singh Wadala, president of SAD (Democratic). Mr Wadala, while briefing the media here today, said since both India and Pakistan had failed in a bid to have diplomatic dialogue to address, the withdrawal of the armed intruders within the Indian territory, UN mediation was the only answer. "If left to fester, the crisis will eventually lead to war, with colossal losses of human life and property on both sides", he said. Answering a query about whether the Indian government was misleading the public, he said the ground reality in Kargil sector was much serious, than that which was being projected by the government. He said it was an illusion that Pakistan could be easily humbled in war by India. He said the international scenario had dramatically changed in the past two decades, adding that military might could not resolve the issue. He cited the example of UN intervention, in Kosovo. He said bilateral agreements — the Shimla Agreement and the recent, Lahore Declaration — had failed to a render solution to sensitive issued. While he held both the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, responsible for the warlike situation in Kargil, he appealed to the President to dismiss both of them "The military action, has many domestic political motives involved in it", he alleged. While, speaking on the
unification of the anti-Badal forces, he admitted that,
till date there were, differences between the different
factions, but, he was sure that "survival
instinct" would, unite them. |
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Rare coin unearthed CHANDIGARH, June 17 — A rare coin, struck during the reign of Emperor Bahadur Shah-I, with the standard legend of the Emperor on one side and the Khalsa symbol of the crossed swords and 'khanda' on the obverse, has been dug up from one of the sealed bags at Punjab Museum, housed in Sheesh Mahal, Patiala. The discovery of this rare coin has been made by none other than the Principal Secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Archives, Mr Gurjit Singh Cheema. The year of the minting of the coin is 1123 Hijri, corresponding to 1711 AD, the fifth year of the Emperor Bahadur Shah-I's reign. It was at this time that Banda Singh Bahadur — whose martyrdom anniversary falls on June 19 — was on the rampage in Punjab, says Mr Cheema. Banda Bahadur had sacked Sirhind and Sadhaura besides establishing his headquarters in the foothills of the mighty Shivaliks from where he is supposed to have issued coins. Although contemporary historians have described the coin in detail, surprisingly, no specimen of the coin issued by Banda Bahadur have been reported so far. The present coin was issued from Lahore — described as Dar-ul-Sultanat Lahore — which was never occupied by Banda Bahadur. This Sikh warrior had only plundered suburbs of Lahore. "It is undoubtedly an imperial issue, but the peculiar mintmark suggests that the mintmaster must have been a Sikh or a secret sympathiser of the Sikhs," says Mr Cheema, maintaining that all kinds of mintmarks, including trishuls and swastikas, have been noticed on late Mughal coins; but their exact significance is still uncertain, and some were probably the personal marks of the mintmasters." "But in the peculiar circumstances of 1123 Hijri, when a panic stricken imperial administration had compelled the Emperor to take the field himself against the rebels, placing the Khalsa symbol on the coins was an act of exceptional courage by the unknown mintmaster or die cutter. A frightened administration had even issued an order that all non-Muslims should shave off their beards or else suffer the indignity of being forcibly shaved," Mr Cheema said. The Principal Secretary disclosed that a major collection of ancient coins of Punjab Museum was lying in sealed bags. Most of the coins are unsorted and unidentified. "We have now launched a drive to classify properly and identify all the coins. And this rare coin is the first significant find so far. Several interesting coins of the Durranis have also been found. "A coin of this type is listed in the Standard Guide to South Asian Coins. The coin given in the catalogue is dated 1122 Hijri while this specimen coin is dated 1123 Hijri. It seems that this Sikh sympathiser in the Lahore mint was able to survive undetected for quite some time," he added. Mr Cheema announced that
once the drive for classification and identification of
coins was complete and the coins had been filled in the
coin cabinets, scholars would be able to readily assess
them. |
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Appointments spark row in DCC LUDHIANA, June 17 — The spate of appointments to various posts of office-bearers of the District Congress Committee (Urban) here in the past couple of months has led to a row in the local unit of the party. In the past week, the Vice President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib, had inducted 23 new office-bearers in the party here, thus increasing the number of office-bearers in the DCC (Urban) to more than 300. This move has prompted the DCC (Urban) President, Mr Rakesh Panday, a former MLA, to openly oppose the new list of office-bearers and declare that the would take up the matter with PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh, for discussions. Trouble has been brewing in the DCC (Urban) ever since Mr Panday was appointed President of DCC (Urban) by Captain Amarinder Singh, soon after he took over as PPCC chief last year. After Mr Panday assumed office he got a list of around 225 office-bearers approved by the PPCC chief, mainly from among his supporters. Other senior party leaders from Ludhiana took offence and personally went to meet Capt Amarinder Singh and got their own supporters inducted as office-bearers. Mr Surinder Dawar, General Secretary, PPCC, and formerly the DCC (Urban) President, who had been replaced by Mr Panday, got a list of 40 DCC (Urban) office-bearers approved from the PPCC President, to be followed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib who got a list of 20 new office-bearers approved. The former Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan sabha, Mr H.D Johar too, got a list off 23 of his supporters appointed as office-bearers. The latest on this account has been the list of Mr Galib’s supporters that was released last week. Releasing this list, Mr Galib tried to justify the new list of office-bearers by saying that they had now inducted old party workers who had made sacrifices during the days of terrorism and from amongst the freedom fighters. The grapevine now has it that another Congress leader and a former Rajya Sabha MP Mr Mohinder Singh Kalyan has got a new list of office-bearers approved from the PPCC chief, which would be released shortly. The present DCC (Urban) President and the other side which includes among others Mr Galib, Mr Dawar and Mr H.D. Johar, have been blaming each other for the factionalism in the party. Mr Dawar, when contacted said had the present leadership in the DCC (Urban) taken all other leaders of the party into confidence while making the appointments of office-bearers when he took charge, this situation would not have arisen. With more than 300 office-bearers of the the DCC (Urban), the local unit of the party is left with hardly any workers and many of the office-bearers are holding two posts as they were given different appointments in different lists. The Senior Vice
President of the Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Parminder
Mehta, said such large-scale appointments as
office-bearers of the the DCC(Urban) during the time when
elections were round the corner, would go against
party’s image. |
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Senior Cong leaders troop to
Delhi PATIALA, June 17 — Senior Congress leaders belonging to rival groups in the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) today left for Delhi to attend a joint meeting called by party General Secretary Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow even as the PPCC President, Capt Amarinder Singh, is lobbying hard there to ensure the dissidents are sent back and their demands not met. Senior Congress leaders, including former Pradesh Congress Presidents, former union ministers, the PPC chief, the Congress Legislature Party leader and a few others have been summoned to Delhi by Mr Mukherjee who looks after the Punjab affairs following a campaign launched by the dissidents against the functioning of the PPCC chief. The dissidents had met Mr Mukherjee and the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, last week and demanded that leaders indicted by the Lok Pal should not be included in any committee. They had also complained that non-Congressmen were being promoted besides making charges of fiscal mismanagement and the inaccessibility of the PPCC chief. The meeting assumes importance as the dissidents feel their basic demands of dropping leaders indicted by the Lok Pal from various committees and stopping alleged overindulgence of family members in party affairs should be met with immediately. They feel by meeting these demands a workable formula can be made for both groups to work unitedly in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, even as Capt Amarinder Singh was not available for comment, a close aide said he had met Mrs Sonia Gandhi last night and again this morning along with Mr Pranab Mukherjee. The aide said the meetings were held in a cordial atmosphere and the high command had expressed complete confidence in his leadership. The aide said there was no question of the pradesh election committee being reconstituted as it had been set up with the concurrence of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Dissidents had questioned the authority of Capt Amarinder Singh by holding a secret meeting at the residence of party Vice-President Sant Ram Singla in which they framed a memorandum demanding that former minister Lal Singh be dropped from the disciplinary committee and the election committee as he had been indicted by the Lok Pal. They had also demanded dropping of other leaders indicted by the Lok Pal and the reconstitution of the election committee. They trooped to Delhi the next day to present the memorandum to the high command. Former minister Lal
Singh, when contacted after he returned from Delhi today,
said he had not been asked to step down from the election
committee as was being spread by certain leaders and that
he saw no reason for him being dropped as he was working
steadfastly for the party under the leadership of Capt
Amarinder Singh in the state. |
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Badal inaugurates power
substation NAWANSHAHR, June 17 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today inaugurated a Rs 4.75 crore project — the 66 KV grid sub-station at Karavar, village about 25 km from here. This project will benefit 50 villages in the Kandi area of this district by ensuring better power supply and improving the voltage condition in the area. Besides, Mr Badal also laid the foundation stone of a 50-bedded hospital at Siana village in Balachaur. This project worth Rs 421.80 crore, will be executed by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation with the aid of the World Bank. While addressing a gathering, the Chief Minister said the SAD-BJP government had been giving top priority to the development of the Kandi area, which had since long remained neglected due to the misconceived plane of the successive Congress governments both at the Centre and in the state as well. Mr Badal said the government last year had put major thrust on power generation and had completed the Thein Dam power project at a cost of Rs 3,200 crore which would start generating 600 MW power by July 30 this year besides providing irrigation facilities for 3.48 lakh hectares of land. Another 400 MW power project at Lehra Mohabbat had also been completed and a 500 MW power project at Goindwal Sahib was also being set up, said the Chief Minister, adding that the current year would be dedicated to restructuring the road net-work in the state at a cost of Rs 750 crore. Mr Badal said the work
to construct 20 km-long link roads in each assembly
segment besides repair work of all link roads in the
state was going on a war footing in the state. |
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Entrance test for 11 courses
scrapped PATIALA, June 17 — Punjabi University has scrapped entrance test for admission to 11 courses. The courses are masters course in philosophy, Sanskrit, linguistics, statistics, Music, Persian, Urdu, Arabian, astronomy and space science, theatre and television. Admissions to L.L.M. and L.L.B will also be made on merit. Entrance test for admission to MA (English) MA (Punjabi) and MA (Economics) at the university’s regional centre at Bathinda has also been abolished. The decision to abolish entrance test for these courses was taken at a recent meeting of university officials regarding formulation of a policy for admission in the 1999-2000 academic session. Only those courses have been selected where the number of applications received was only one-and-a-half times that of the available seats. Former Vice-Chancellor J.S. Puar had introduced the entrance test system in 1993. Since then, the policy had become a controversial topic. A section of teachers having a well-known anti-establishment stand had always been demanding scrapping of entrance test. College principals, managements and unions had also made the same demand as admissions to post-graduate courses in their respective institutions had suffered badly due to the entrance test. Certain courses were on the brink of closure when the university bowing to pressure gave way last year and abolished entrance test for admission to colleges. Meanwhile, the university has "quietly" decided to "recompile" the results of entrance test for admission to nearly 80 seats in different MBA courses being run by the university managed Guru Kashi College, Damdama Sahib, Bathinda. According to official sources, the college runs MBA courses in finance, marketing, human resource management, community management and information management. The entrance test was conducted by the university in February this year. The rules state that those candidates who secure 25 per cent marks each in examination of mental ability, general knowledge and general English along with 33 per cent aggregate marks will qualify for the interview. However, when the result was displayed a number of candidates alleged that officials conducting the test had ignored the rule of getting 25 per cent in each paper to qualify and only prepared the merit list considering the 33 per cent aggregate marks rule. This, they alleged, was done to help certain candidates. While Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, declined to comment, a senior official on condition of anonymity confirmed the re-compilation of results. He said a high-level meeting of university officials chaired by the Vice-Chancellor took the decision last week. He said earlier the university was thinking of conducting the test again. But as this would have brought a "bad name" to the institution, only recompilation of the result was being done. The recompilation means
that the list of qualifying students will be shortened as
only those who fulfil both the condition of 25 per cent
in each paper and 33 per cent aggregate will qualify now. |
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Punjab Govt may hike allowance ROPAR, June 17 — The Punjab Government has mooted a proposal to increase the period of unemployment allowance from the existing three years to five years for the eligible unemployed youths registered with the employment exchange in the state. According to reliable sources in the Department of Employment, Punjab, the Director of the department has sought detailed information from the district employment officers regarding additional financial burden, in case the proposal is implemented in their respective districts. Some district employment officers had already submitted the required information to the director. But after examining their estimates, the Director reportedly expressed his dissatisfaction and wrote to them to furnish fresh estimates. Some of officers who have not sent their estimates till last month, have also been directed to submit the information at the earliest. At present the eligible unemployed youths registered with employment exchanges have been getting an unemployment allowance Rs 150 per month for matric and undergraduates and Rs 200 for graduates and above. Any unemployed youth who wants to get an unemployment allowance should be at least matriculate and his family income should not be more than Rs 12,000 per annum. Besides these, the youth has to fulfil some conditions to become eligible for the allowance. If the proposal gets
clearance, will the state government be able to meet the
additional required finances for the purpose, especially
at the time when the financial health of the state is not
good. |
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Senior railway official held PATIALA, June 17 — A senior official of the Diesel Component Works (DCW) working as a Deputy Financial Adviser-cum-Chief Accounts Officer has been arrested under the Corruption Act for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 200. Disclosing this here today, Superintendent of Police B.K. Uppal said the DCW official - Pritam Dass was trapped by a vigilance team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhag Singh yesterday while taking a bribe of Rs 200 from a fitter Raghubir Singh. The SP (Vigilance) said
Mr Pritam Dass had allegedly helped transfer Raghubir
Singh from RCF, Kapurthala to DCW here as a fitter
recently for which he had demanded Rs 2000. Raghubir
Singh claimed since he was not in a position to pay the
sum Mr Pritam Dass refused to release his salary. |
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Freedom fighter dead JALANDHAR, June 17 — Comrade Dev Raj Sharda, a prominent freedom fighter, died here this morning. Comrade Sharda took active part in India's struggle for Independence and was imprisoned 14 times by the British rulers. Many freedom fighters, including office-bearers of the National Martyr's Memorial Committee and the Jalandhar Freedom Fighters Union gave him the last salute amid chanting of "Vandemataram and Jai Hind". Wreaths were placed by
Additional Deputy Commissioner Parveen Kumar, on behalf
of state government and district administration. |
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Patwaris to launch ‘jail
bharo’ stir BATHINDA, June 17 — The patwaris, who have been on a state wide strike for the past many days to press the Punjab Government to accept their demands, have launched a Jail bharo andolan in protest against the high-handedness of the police. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Surinderpal Sharma and Mr Gurmail Singh co-convener and convener respectively, of the state Patwari Kanugo Coordination Committee, said they had taken the decision following the police action against the protesting patwaris. They said the patwaris of Faridkot division would court arrest in front of their respective tehsils. According to them, the andolan had already started in Jalandhar division and if the need arose, it would also be started in Patiala division. The district
administration has registered cases against 26 patwaris
for obstructing official work. It has also taken
possession of records of 170 patwar areas. |
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Principal sacked TALWANDI SABO, June 17 — Mr S.R. Ladhar, Deputy Commissioner cum-Chairman, Shri Dasmesh Senior Secondary Public School, Talwandi Sabo has terminated the services of the schools Principal, Mr Surinder Singh Gill, for allegedly committing financial irregularities. In a press note here today, Mr Ladhar said that Mr Gill had burgled school funds amounting to lakhs of rupees in the last few years. He said Mr Gill was earlier suspended after being found guilty of embezzling the school funds by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Alok Shekhar, who conducted an inquiry into the affairs of the school. Mr Ladhar said a case was also registered at the local police station against the Principal for misappropriation of school funds on March 2. He added that Mr Gill
was given an opportunity of personal hearing on June 15,
keeping in view principles of natural justice. However,
Mr Gill did not appear in person for explaining his
stand. Hence, his services were terminated. |
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Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom
day observed AMRITSAR, June 17 — The martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev was celebrated here with great religious fervour and traditional solemnity. A large number of langars and chhabils were organised throughout the city. In spite of the tension on the border there seems to be enthusiasm among people, especially in the border areas, where Army jawans and others were being offered langar and sweet water. KAPURTHALA: The martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev was observed in the town with religious fervour on Thursday. Congregations were held in the gurdwaras. The main function was held in Gurdwara Bawain. Community langars and chhabils were arranged in every locality of the town. Reports of celebrations
of the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev have also been
received from Sultanpur Lodhi, Bholath, Begowal, Dhilwan
and other parts of the district. |
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Neglect of Home Guards worries
MLA AMRITSAR, June 17 — BJP MLA Laxmi Kanta Chawla yesterday expressed concern about the neglect of Home Guards and SPOs in the state. In a press note here, she criticised the Punjab Government for not making any budgetary provision for raising the salaries of the Home Guards and the SPOs, while giving revised pay scales to its employees. In a letter to the Chief Minister, she questioned the decision of the government to transfer 2000 Home Guards and SPOs to the Food Corporation of India as security guards at monthly emoluments of Rs 1700 while they were drawing monthly salaries of Rs 2100 earlier. She appealed to the
Chief Minister not to displace these personnel and review
their cases compassionately before ordering their
transfers. Resignation of minister sought TARN TARAN, June 17 — Mr Datar Singh, president, Democratic Teachers Front, Punjab, Mr Daljit Singh and Mr Harbhajan Singh Johal, leaders of teachers' organisations, have demanded the resignation of Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, Punjab, for calling all officers of the Education Department corrupt. Talking to reporters here yesterday, they said the minister had told a deputation of teachers that as all officers of the Education Department were corrupt and he had no faith in them, he had decided to order transfers of teachers himself. The teachers said the minister had insulted the department and sought his resignation. They also condemned the
politicisation of the transfers. |
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NTAS workshop inaugurated PATIALA, June 17 — Manpreet Gill, a well-known theatre and film personality, and director of Punjabi feature film, "Chann Mahi", yesterday lauded the role of the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS), Patiala, in providing effective theatre training to youngsters and building self-confidence, sense of discipline and unity among them. He was inaugurating the NTAS's one-month-long theatre workshop,. "Long Live Punjab" here. Answering a question-answer session, he emphasised the need for hard work. Mr Pran Sabharwal and
Mrs Sunita Sabharwal, director and convener,
respectively, of the project, disclosed that besides
preliminary knowledge, practical training would be given
in important aspects of theatre such as speech and
self-projection, acting and movements, group
improvisations and make-up. |
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