Sunday, October 10, 1999
|
P U N J A B | |
Sunday, October 10, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
 |
||
|
Critical
appraisal of populist schemes urged |
 |
|
|||||||||
|
A bit of damp squib seminar Siropa issue: Manjit declines
comment
Squabbles hit vaccine research Declare financial emergency:
Channi Sixth win for R.L. Bhatia Hike in sales tax irrational:
Jagmeet Board asked to fill in roll number
slips Christians shift satsang venue Kidnappers’ gang busted, 5
held
4 arrested for assaulting medical
staff Phone owners allege graft by DoT
staff Dengue: team visits Hoshiarpur Ban on storing crackers SFI to protest against fee hike |
|||||||||||
 |
||||
District presidents' meet CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — Why did the ruling SAD-BJP combine suffer a big defeat in the recently held Lok Sabha poll? The meeting of the district presidents of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) held here today failed to provide a clear answer to the question. The meeting was convened by the party president and the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to review the SAD's drubbing at the hustings. Though the issue of "corruption" figured at the meeting briefly but other issues like 'lack of governance' and fiscal crisis which party leaders often discuss privately in their close circles did not figure at the meeting strangely. Though officially no details about the meeting except expressing full faith in the leadership of Mr Badal, his visionary approach said to be appreciated by participants and having a dig at former SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra, were available, informed sources said district presidents urged the Chief Minister to take cognisance of allegations of corruption against the government and make the position clear in this regard. Seeking an immediate critical review of the populist schemes and decisions like free power to farmers across the board 'shagun' scheme, pension scheme and houses for the poor, certain district presidents stated that such measures failed to provide the desired results. Free power should be given but only to small farmers and not to big landlords. Talking about houses for poor, Akali leaders at the meeting said there was a big flaw in the implementation of the scheme. When four or five families get houses in a village the rest turn hostile towards the government. Mostly poor people have turned against the government due to faulty implementation of the scheme. As regards ‘Shagun’ scheme, leaders told Mr Badal that while at certain places people took money against the ‘Shagun’ scheme twice or thrice, in other cases even genuine claimants were denied the benefit. There should be a proper screening and only genuine claimants next be given money. With regard to houses for poor, the district chiefs said the government should give the grant in cash to all chosen poor families to built houses in one go at one place in order to avoid displeasure to others. There was resentment over party workers' plight. While leaders reaped benefits and became MLAs ministers and got their kin fixed up in good positions ordinary workers, who served the party sincerely when the party was in wilderness, felt left in the lurch. Honest party activists were disappointed at the absence of recognition for them. Leaders felt that party workers should be adjusted in market committees as members of their governing bodies and in other organisations such as improvement trusts. The meeting attributed the surprising poll results in Punjab to sky-high expectations of the people from the SAD. It accepted the defeat with all humility and reiterated its commitment to serve the people with renewed zeal. Some district presidents
who are on a visit abroad were unable to attend today's
meeting. |
||
SAD humbled in its own
citadel CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — The levers of political power in Punjab are in the Malwa region, which accounts for six of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, which means 65 of the 117 Assembly constituencies. Even 11 of the 17 districts fall in that belt. The outcome of the Lok Sabha poll shows that even in its own citadel — Malwa — the SAD could win just one seat, Ferozepore. The second seat it won falls in Majha; Tarn Taran, which is traditionally an Akali seat. While the CPI has captured Bathinda, the breakaway Akali faction president Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, has humbled the SAD’s Mr Surjit Singh Barnala in Sangrur. The ruling partner, the BJP, could win just one seat, Gurdaspur, while the remaining eight seats have been won by the Congress, which scored a zero in 1998. In the process the SAD’s grip on the levers of political power seem to be slipping. An analysis of the constituencies presents the following picture: Punjab has 117 Assembly constituencies of which 88 are general and 29 reserved. In the Vidhan Sabha, the SAD has a strength of 76, as per February,1997, Assembly election and subsequent additions and subtractions. Of these the ruling party MLAs failed to score over their rivals in as many as 48 constituencies, while, the BJP with 18 Assembly berths failed to perform in as many as 14 Assembly constituencies. Punjab, besides the Chief Minister, has at present 15 Cabinet-rank and 10 Ministers of State, belonging to both the SAD and the BJP. There is the Speaker and SGPC president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, who is also an Assembly member. In the post-Adampur by election period the upheaval engineered within the Akali politics saw the SGPC members and party workers supporting the president, Mr Prakash Singh Badal. Despite all the Chief Minister’s men and machinery, the party has failed. Both within the SAD as well as the BJP besides in the bureaucracy, a fierce debate is on at present as to "what next in Punjab"? Murmurs of a coup in the SAD taking place are also audible. The ruling party is gearing itself for an in-depth analysis. Mr Badal has already announced the schedule of meetings of the party’s district presidents, political affairs committee and so on. The mood is sullen. There is total despondency. The opinion is divided as to how to go about a "damage control" operation. If witch hunting starts, says one school of thought, it will be an unending exercise because almost all ministers have failed in their respective constituencies. Therefore, there should be no apportion of blame, says this segment of the Akalis. The second school of thought is to go in for a major politico-administrative surgery, drastically reviewing the on-going policies, programmes and system of subsidies. The party general-secretary and Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, was forthright in expressing his views on the debacle, lessons to be learnt and the remedial steps to be taken. He has identified, "corruption, non-abolition of octroi and subsequent harassment of the trade and business by contractors and factionalism and frictions" within the party as main factors for the defeat. He does no count Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra and his allies as a major factor, as does Mr Badal. He favours finding an answer to the "resentment" expressed by the people through the ballot. Making the administration responsible and corruption-free is equally important besides applying political correctives, which means, he explains, "closing of all ranks, working as a cohesive unit to bridge the yawning gap between the ruler and the people". Capt Kanwaljit Singh is emphatic that people are not convinced by "concessions and sops", what mattered to them was "performance", the area where the government failed. "These shortcomings have to be met and networking of all sections of the government and society is required". People were more aggressive and assertive. They must be provided the desired services. These services have to be priced and of quality. There is a major "transformation" in Punjabi society and politics. The shift is from "religio-political" to Politico-economic" policies, where development has to match equity and for that capital or revenue generation is the key. Hence, "re-prioritisation of policies is imperative". Therefore, more than curbing the dissent and the reported coup attempts within the party, it is Punjab which has to be saved. Even as the party’s grassroots level workers and leaders in the next few days deliberate upon what course to adopt and how to halt the erosion of government credibility, a handful of political executive and bureaucrats have with them a stinging note of the Principal Secretary, Finance, Mr K.R. Lakhanpal, who first briefed the Chief Minister and then the Cabinet. The financial situation is "grim". There is no middle-path. "It is do or die, "the note is believed to have conveyed to the political leadership. Having talked of the ‘principles" involved in bringing about short-term and long-term fiscal discipline, the note postulates on the action required. A committee headed by the Chief Secretary is expected to go back to the Cabinet (through a Cabinet subcommittee) by October-end as to how to generate revenue, build capital formation, arrange institutional finance without getting into a further deeper debt trap, opt for administratively implementable and politically acceptable schemes and ensure adequate inflow of revenue. The fiscal crisis has had a cascading effect. The steps being worked out have to be compatible with the globalisation, liberalisation and economic reforms. So far, the SAD-BJP combine has been taking things a bit casually. Now it has woken up. "It is a serious jolt", admitted Capt Kanwaljit Singh, referring to the poll outcome. Thus, a churning process
is on in Punjab, where the Chief Minister’s task has
become more arduous since he is also the political boss
of the ruling combine. A complete overhaul of the
politico-administrative infrastructure is on the anvil.
More than the political survival Punjab needs a break
through. If Punjab fails can any political party survive? |
||
Governorship for Barnala? CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — Who would represent the Akali Dal lead by Mr Parkash Singh Badal in the council of ministers at the Centre? The Akali Dal could manage just two Lok Sabha seats, Tarn Taran and Ferozepore. Earlier it had eight seats and two representatives, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala as a Cabinet Minister and Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal as Minister of State. But both have lost the elections this time. They had important portfolios — Food and Industries. In fact Mr Badal reluctantly went to the Delhi yesterday for the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance whose important member he still is. Reports had it that in fact, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Haryana Chief Minister who owes a lot to Mr Badal in attaining his present position, persuaded Mr Badal to be present at the NDA's crucial meeting. Today Mr Chautala has a major clout and a clear political goal. His "humble" demand to roll back the highest-ever price increase of diesel three days ago is politically very significant. There is no doubt other sections have demanded this, but Mr Chautala, an important constituent of the present political set-up has more weightage and if he succeeds, he could go to the people and claim credit. Mr Badal on the hand has not supported the demand to withdraw the price hike and had hiked sales tax by 4 per cent on diesel. It hits the farmers straight. Transporters would pass the buck to the consumers, but the farmers will have to bear the burnt. Mr Badal also took care to take Mr Barnala to the NDA meeting. There was two-fold purpose. One was to assuage the ruffled feelings of the former Punjab Chief Minister that Mr Barnala was and he was feeling hurt at his defeat. He and his supporters openly blame the Akali Dal general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for the debate. Some even blame Mr Badal for this humiliation which Mr Barnala has suffered. Interestingly, Mr Dhindsa is keen on a berth in the union ministry. He has been lobbying hard and Mr Badal might even support him, observers here said. Mr Badal, according to Akali Dal insiders, is also thinking of persuading Mr A.B. Vajpayee to make Mr Barnala a Governor of one of the states. At present there is none from the Akali Dal and several positions are vacant, including that of Bihar and Punjab. Once Mr Barnala is accommodated, Mr Dhindsa could be helped in the assessment. This was the second purpose. But then why not one of the two Lok Sabha members? Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur from Tarn Taran is now fairly a senior in politics and has a clean image. Then there is Mr Zora Singh Mann from Ferozepore. He is said to be more close to Mr Badal than Mr Tur. Mr Tur comes from a traditional Akali family where his father Mr Mohan Singh Tur was president of the Akal Dal. Both of them are pressing for their claims. Again, there is another
very close aide of Mr Badal, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder,
a Rajya Sabha member who too would not like to miss the
opportunity. Both Mr Dhindsa and Mr Bhunder had lost the
assembly poll and were first accommodated in high profile
positions as chairman of the Punjab State Electricity
Board and the Punjab Mandi Board. They quit to become
members of parliament. Now both are eager to join the
Central ministry. Mr Badal would have a difficult time in
deciding this time as both Mr Barnala and his son, Mr
Sukhbir Singh Badal are not there. |
||
A bit of damp squib
seminar CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — A seminar on all- India gurdwaras legislation organised by Guru Gobind Singh Foundation here today was unique in the sense that neither the invited participants, "Sikh scholars" as the organisers called them, nor the select audience had any idea what the draft All-India Gurdwaras Bill, 1999 contains. Less said the better about the controversy it has generated ever since the Sikh Gurdwara Commission submitted its findings to the Home ministry. The seminar had in Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, and president of the foundation, the key-speaker, who delivered the keynote address. A copy of his article written on the subject and published in these columns was the only document circulated to those who cared to attend. The maximum people were from, obviously, Punjabi University. Even the press note issued soon after the seminar ended contained the viewpoint of only Dr Ahluwalia. There was complete blackout of the views expressed by the invited "scholars". Only their names (not all) were mentioned. It was attributed that all of them "endorsed" the views of Dr Ahluwalia. The press note was distributed mid-way of the seminar. But the speakers, including Dr Kashmir Singh, who has written a whole book on "Law of Religious Institutions — Sikh Gurdwaras" and is at Guru Nanak Dev University’s Law department and who has been associated with the process of framing the draft Bill on gurdwaras, admitted he was not aware of what the draft submitted to the Centre contained. Thus, those who spoke were expected to toe the line of Dr Ahluwalia. They confined themselves to the newspaper reports on the subject. Interestingly, the article of Dr Ahluwalia, circulated on the occasion, some of the speakers and the press note somehow targeted Justice Harbans Singh (red). All criticism and attack was directed at him. It was left to SGPC Legal Cell in charge, Mr Mohinder Singh, to submit that undue controversy and criticism of Justice Harbans Singh should be avoided as he had clearly mentioned that the draft Bill was subject to "approval" by the SGPC and that Delhi should not issue any notification or present it to Parliament till the SGPC approved the same. Some felt that even the
SGPC was too "unwieldy" and needed to be
pruned. |
||
Siropa issue: Manjit declines
comment ANANDPUR SAHIB, Oct 9 — Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, here yesterday declined to comment on the reported explanation of Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), sought by the Sikh clergy regarding presentation of the ‘siropa’ to Mr Om Parkash Chautala, Chief Minister, Haryana, in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple when he had visited the Golden Temple to pay obeisance a few days after taking over as the Chief Minister of Haryana. Talking to reporters Prof Manjit Singh said as the matter belonged to Sri Akal Takht, so any statement regarding the issue should come from the Takht. On persistence by reporters, Prof Manjit Singh merely said as the presentation of the ‘siropa’ to Mr Chautala in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple had led to some confusion among Sikh masses in the light of a resolution adopted by the general House of the SGPC regarding non-presenting "siropa" in the sanctum sanctorum, so this confusion needed to be clarified. Earlier in the day, Bibi
Jagir Kaur who visited this town in connection with the
function, and Prof Manjit Singh held a meeting but what
transpired at the meeting could not be known. Prof Manjit
Singh also did not divulge the conversation on the issue
by saying that they had not talked over it and added if
they talked about anything, it was about the inauguration
ceremony of Gurmat Sangeet Academy to be held on October
11 here. |
||
Anonymous call yields crores PATIALA, Oct 9 — For once an anonymous call instead of turning out to be a hoax has resulted in a Rs 10 crore bonanza for the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) zonal office here. Investigation of an anonymous call has resulted in the office discovering 25 acres of prime land in close proximity to the city which was being tilled till now with PUDA having no knowledge of it. The land, which was swiftly taken over by PUDA yesterday, within days of receiving the telephone call, will be converted into a PUDA colony netting the authority more than Rs 10 crore. It all started when PUDA zonal office law officer Vipin Jethi received an anonymous call some days back following a drive launched by PUDA against those who were using residential land for commercial uses. The caller said while PUDA had started a drive against small encroachers, those who had encroached upon acres of its land were going scot free. The caller, while not divulging any details, said many acres of PUDA land was in illegal occupation. The zonal office first searched the Urban Phase layout plan prepared by the District Town Planner in the seventies to ascertain if there was any land which had escaped its attention. When this did not yield any result, the authority chose to look up its own land acquisition record. When the area under it was calculated, it was revealed that it had possession of less area than belonged to it. PUDA zonal office administrator Arunjit Singh Miglani said the help of the Revenue Department was taken to identify land belonging to the authority. He said then it was discovered that around 25 acres of prime land near the Indo-Tibetan Border Police complex on the outskirts of the city on the Patiala-Rajpura road belonged to it. He said upon investigation it was revealed that the land was being tilled by Balbir Singh of Jaurah village. He said as the land was shown to be the property of PUDA and in the authority's possession for the past 20 years, the farmer was asked if he had any proof of the ownership of the land. The administrator said the farmer said he had taken the land on lease from some other person at the rate of Rs 70,000 per year and had been tilling it for five years. Before him, others had also tilled the land on lease. As the person who had given the land on lease to Balbir Singh chose to disappear, the farmer surrendered his rights to PUDA which took over possession of the land yesterday. Mr Miglani said a dera had encroached a part of the land by building a stage on it. He said the dera had also vacated the land which was demarcated yesterday in the presence of revenue officers. He said the land was
probably ignored when PUDA replaced the housing board and
all latter's properties were transferred to it. He said
the land had been acquired without any fuss and no case
had been registered against anybody. He said the colony
which would come up on the land would attract a good
premium as it was nearer than all three phases of the
Urban Estate developed by PUDA. |
||
Squabbles hit vaccine research LUDHIANA, Oct 9 — The bifurcation of the tick-borne research scheme for developing a vaccine against topical theilleriosis in exotic and cross-bred cattle by the Punjab Agricultural University authorities had made it almost defunct, with the Principal Investigator of the scheme, Dr A.S. Grewal, and the co-principal investigator, Dr Avtar Singh, having locked horns. Almost no further research has been carried out under this scheme since its split, one with the department of veterinary parasitology and the other with the Department of Biotechnology. In May this year, in a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr G.S. Kalkat, Dr A.S. Grewal, Principal Investigator and senior immunologist, had pleaded that the disproportionate division of contingency fund, technical manpower, equipment etc. between the two departments has reduced the part with the Department of Biotechnology to a "non-functional entity". He has also urged upon the authorities to institute probe about the exclusion of two scientists who has worked on the project and inclusion of a scientist who was not even on the rolls of the department during the period of research. The progress report, authored by Mr Avtar Singh was submitted to the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology in January, while the Principal Investigator, Dr Grewal, was on medical leave. The university authorities have denied these charges and claim that work on the part of the scheme being handled by the Department of Veterinary Parasitology is going as per the schedule. Brushing aside the allegations levelled by Dr Grewal as baseless, Dr M.S. Tiwana, Additional Director Research (Veterinary), said "research on the tick-borne disease part of the scheme being handled by the Department of Veterinary Parasitology is going well as per the plan submitted to me in June after the split of the scheme. However, the other component of the research project under the Department of Biotechnology, being handled by Dr A.S. Grewal, seems not to make any further progress as he has not submitted any plan of work so far". This scheme was sanctioned by the state government in 1980 for the PAU with a view of developing a vaccine against tick-borne diseases in exotic and cross-bred cattle, and transferring the know-how for production to the Punjab Veterinary Vaccine Institute, and to coordinate with the institute in quality control testing of vaccine and developing of village-level model plan of immunisation for calves in the state. For this, the Tick-Borne Disease Research Centre was established at a cost of Rs 2 crore. After the vaccine was developed, this centre had to be used for the mass production on the vaccine and the university had to collaborate with the Punjab Veterinary Vaccine Institute till it became self reliant in making the vaccine. However, the university converted this centre into the Department of Veterinary Immunology in 1988 and this scheme was handled by it. Again in 1998, the university had to merge this department with the Department of Veterinary Microbiology as per the stipulations of the Veterinary Council of India which allows only 17 specific departments in veterinary colleges. As a result, this scheme was split into two. With the merger of the departments, the building as well as the other equipment in the centre worth crores of rupees also lies unutilised. This building has a centrally air-conditioned laboratory for vaccine production which has differential pressure, animal sheds with special features for tick-proof management and quality control assessment of the vaccine production unit. The vaccine, though developed in 1990, is still at the experimental stage. In the final phase of the field trials conducted by the state veterinary officers from 1991-1998, around 7,000 cross-bred calves were vaccinated successfully. However, the further work on the transfer of the technology of preparing the vaccine at mass level to the PVVI, the quality control testing of vaccine for use in the field by livestock farmers etc. remains suspended. The Director Research,
PAU, Dr K.S. Aulakh, assured that the university was
committed to providing new techniques to farmers through
research and this project. Meanwhile, it is also rumoured
that the Department of Biotechnology, which was created
after dismantling the Biotechnology Centre, was also
likely to be dissolved as was done in the case of the
Tick-Borne Disease Centre. Many scientists in the
department fear that the setting up of the Centre for
Excellence in Biotechnology at Mohali would make the
university authorities initiate such an action. However,
Dr G.S. Kalkat denied this and said, "there is no
such move to dissolve the Biotechnology Department.
Instead linkages, with the upcoming Centre for Excellence
in Biotechnology would be developed". |
||
Declare financial emergency: Channi HARIANA (Hoshiarpur), Oct 9 (UNI) — Newly-elected Congress MP from Hoshiarpur, Charanjit Singh Channi today said that he would soon quit his seat in the Punjab Assembly. Stating this at a Press conference here where he came to thank voters and was taken out in a victory march, he said: "I will soon send my resignation as MLA to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker". Mr Channi, who was elected as an Independent MLA from Nawanshahr after defeating his mother who was the official Congress candidate, later joined the party. He was a son of former Punjab Agriculture Minister Dilbagh Singh Nawanshahr. Like the PPCC President, Mr Channi also supported the demand made by his party President for financial emergency in Punjab and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal after the virtual rout of the ruling Akali-BJP combine in the Lok Sabha elections. "The verdict is a vote of no-confidence against Mr Badal", he claimed. He demanded the
withdrawal of the 35 per cent hike in diesel prices,
saying it had hit hard farmers and transporters. |
||
Hike in sales tax irrational:
Jagmeet BATHINDA, Oct 9 — Mr Jagmeet Brar, senior Vice-President, PPCC and MP, today flayed Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal for increasing sales tax on diesel and other eatables. Talking to newspersons before leaving for Delhi, he pointed out that irrational increase in the sales tax rates of certain items was not the right to bring the state out of severe financial crisis. He stated that Mr Badal should check the revenue going into ‘private pockets’. He said increase in the rates of diesel would affect the economy of the state adversely as it was based on agriculture. The farmers had been hit severely due to the increase in diesel prices and it had exposed anti-farmer policies of Mr Badal. Mr Brar also alleged that Mr Badal had failed to bring Rs 300 crores from the Centre which was meant for compensating those farmers whose paddy and cotton crops was damaged last year due to untimely rains. He pointed out that no industrial project brought by Mr Sukhbir Badal in Punjab in the past one and half year had progressed beyond foundation stone. Regarding his priorities, he said he would make efforts to provide basic amenities to the people at the earliest. He demanded that the Punjab government should compensate and rehabilitate those residents of the Jeewan Nagar locality of Faridkot whose houses were demolished by the civic authorities on political considerations. He alleged that Rs 200
crore, which the Punjab Government claimed to have spent
on the tackling of water-logging in Muktsar and Faridkot
district, were not utilised in a proper manner by
authorities concerned. |
||
Board asked to fill in roll
number slips CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab School Education Board to fill in roll number slips of all students who appear in examinations conducted by it. The reason? There is no column in the form for the roll number slip which could be filled either by the school concerned or the students. Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, who handed down these directions, ordered that this order of the high court be communicated to all concerned forthwith. The question of filling in the roll number slip cropped up when Manjot Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, and plus two student, preferred a writ petition questioning the decision of the board to cancel his result. In his petition Manjot Singh stated that he was allotted centre 20-E on the roll number slip but later on he gathered that his result had been cancelled by the board. The stand of the board, on the other hand, was that 20-E centre was the Arya Senior Secondary School and not Arya College, Ludhiana. The petitioner had filled in the wrong centre on the roll number slip. Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar quashed the decision of the board and directed that the result of the petitioner be declared in according with law. The judge observed:
"I will certainly like to issue directions to the
respondent board that in order to avoid such incidents in
future due care should be taken by the staff of the board
and in any case roll number slip should be filled in by
the office (of the board) in its entirety...." |
||
Christians shift satsang venue JALANDHAR, Oct 9 (PTI) — Christians have agreed to shift the venue of their proposed satsang from Dushehra Grounds here following assurance from the Bajrang Dal and the VHP not to disrupt the gathering thus easing the tension that gripped the city since yesterday following opposition to the meeting by the Sangh Parivar outfits. "The administration has earmarked a new site for the prayer meeting and Christians have agreed to have a peaceful gathering at the new venue. Leaders of the Bajrang Dal and the VHP have also assured us that there would not be any attempt to disrupt the meeting’’, Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav said here today. A spokesman of the Punjab Christian Movement said the meeting would be held today irrespective of whether there was any opposition to it or not. The movement had planned to hold yesterday "changiayee sabha (welfare prayer meet)" at Dushehra Grounds which was objected to by the Bajrang Dal-VHP which alleged the meet was aimed at "converting poor and gullible people". Mr Hanif Masih, president of the movement, denied the charge and said: "We had even asked the Deputy Commissioner, the SSP and VHP activists to come and attend the meeting". Sources in Christian organisations associated with the meeting said the today’s proceedings would not involve any faith-healing session, which was a major bone of contention as the Bajrang Dal-VHP had claimed that such sessions were "nothing but conversion movements". The SSP said Christians had shelved the plan to stage a dharna at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The spokesman of the Christians said the administration had assured the Christian community of "complete security at the prayer meeting". LUDHIANA (FOC): The
Council of Ludhiana Churches has condemned the
lathicharge on Christians at Amritsar and Jalandhar to
prevent them from holding their religious meetings. In a
press note released here, Mr Yunus Massey, chairman of
the council, alleged that step-motherly treatment was
being meted out to the Christians. |
||
Kidnappers’ gang busted, 5 held GURDASPUR, Oct 9 — The police has busted an inter-state gang involved in kidnapping of minors and selling them to beggars. Mr Varinder Kumar SSP, briefing newsmen here today said five persons — Ashok Kumar and Subhash Chander both residents of Awankha village, near Dinanagar in the district, Mangal Din (resident of Madhya Pradesh), Jai Kishan (resident of Hardwar) and Dewana (resident of Bihar) — had been arrested in this connection. The district police chief said Inderpreet Kaur, daughter of Jarnail Singh, resident of Ghesal village, a fifth standard student, informed the police that when she was returning along with her classmate Mandip Kaur, two persons promised to give them fine clothes and joyride in a car. The suspect forcibly put Inderpreet Kaur in a bag and tried to escape. Mandip Kaur raised the alarm and the two suspects were overpowered by people, and handed over to the police. On preliminary interrogation the suspects disclosed that they were selling minors to kidnapper. The police arrested three persons after raiding the identified place. The police chief said the suspects revealed that they were members of an inter-state gang which operated in Delhi, UP, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The kidnapped children were being sold for Rs 6000-7000 each. A case under Section
363A/120-B, IPC, has been registered against the
suspects. |
||
48 FIRs against colonisers JALANDHAR, Oct 9 — The police has launched a special drive against unauthorised colonisers and has registered 48 FIRs on the basis of complaints received from the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). The SSP Mr Gaurav Yadav, said here today that the drive had been launched with a view to initiating criminal proceedings against the colonisers who had violated the Punjab Apartments and Property Regulation Act, 1995, and the Punjab Regional Town Planning and Development Act, 1995. A meeting was held with the Additional Chief Administrator of PUDA, Mr Raminder Singh, and the cases were listed. Mr Yadav said a large number of unauthorised colonies had mushroomed in and around Jalandhar which had been promoted by colonisers, builders and estate agents and for which permission from PUDA had not been taken. Such colonies existed at Baring, Salempur Mussalmana, Nagar, Dhilwan, Basti Sheikh, Boot, Kangniwal, Reru, Basti Danishmandan, Mubarakpur, Rehmanpur, Khambra, Wariana, Gadiapur, Nakodar, Nangal, and Shahkot villages, among others. Any promoter or estate agent who failed to comply with or contravened the provisions of Sections, 3, 6, 9 or 15 of the Punjab Apartments and Property Regulation Act was liable for Action under Section 36 of the above Act. Putting up hoarding or advertising in newspapers for promoting colonies without authorisation was also an offence. Agricultural land could not be used for setting up colonies without proper conversion of land use. The regulation Act was passed in 1995 after the repeal of the Punjab Regulation of Colonies Act, 1975. This was done to give enhanced powers to the Additional Chief Administrators of PUDA under the bylaws to check the growth of unauthorised colonies. Promoters and estate agents were authorised to set up colonies but only after obtaining permission from PUDA. Mr Yadav said a monitoring committee had been set up with officials of PUDA and the police in order to take a follow-up action on the FIRs registered. PUDA officials had been
asked to furnish details of the bylaws and other evidence
in order to corroborate the allegations in the FIRs. An
opportunity would be given to the accused to join the
investigation and place before the investigating officer
all relevant documents and records which indicated
compliance with the legal provisions. The investigation
of these cases had been entrusted to officers of the rank
of DSP and each DSP had been given the investigation of
5-7 cases. |
||
4 arrested for assaulting
medical staff JALANDHAR, Oct 9 — The police has arrested four persons for allegedly assaulting medical officers on duty in the Civil Hospital. The SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, said here today that a case under Sections 353, 106, 342, 506, 148 and 149, IPC, had been registered against them following a complaint by Dr Sarveshwar Sud. The complainant had stated that a large group of persons had entered the Civil Hospital emergency ward on the night intervening September 25 and 26 and assaulted the medical staff and obstructed them from discharging their duty. Bal Kishan of Bazaar Shekhan, Munish Bahri of Sarbat Bazaar, Ramesh Chander of Basti Guzan and Surinder Kumar had been arrested in this regard. Work in the hospital remained paralysed for two hours the next day as the staff gathered in front of the emergency department and staged a rally. President of the joint action committee M.B. Bali, meanwhile, condemned the inaction of the police. According to the committee, the claim of the police that the accused had been arrested was falsified as they had not been brought to the hospital for a medical check-up which was mandatory as per the ruling of the Supreme Court. A gate rally would be
held tomorrow and work would be suspended on October 11. |
||
Dengue: team visits Hoshiarpur HOSHIARPUR, Oct 9 — Following the reports published in The Tribune regarding suspected cases of dengue in Hoshiarpur, a team from the malaria control zonal office, Jalandhar, yesterday visited the city to identify and destroy the Aedes aegypti mosquito here. After visiting various localities, the team found Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in stagnated water in tyres at Punjab Roadways workshop and in coolers at Government Officers’ Colony, Jalandhar Road. Dr Kiranjit Kumar, Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, said pesticides were being sprayed to destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes and inhabitants were advised not to allow stagnation of water in and around of their houses. Manwhile, Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, has instructed the municipal authorities to procure machines within two days and do the fogging spray in and around the city to eliminate Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. He also instructed them
to get the city cleaned by removing heaps of garbage and
clearing choked drains. |
||
Ban on storing crackers LUDHIANA, Oct 9 — With the festival season round the corner, the district administration has imposed a ban on the sale and storage of crackers in places other than those prescribed by it. Directions have also been issued to the dealers to make adequate fire-fighting arrangements. Addressing a meeting of wholesale dealers in crackers here, yesterday, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel, reminded the dealers of the loss of human lives in the worst-ever fire incident in 1991 at Gur Mandi, which happened because of the storage of crackers in a congested area. He said the
administration would not allow them to violate the
directions at any cost. He said only the fire-works
manufactured at Shivakasi would be allowed for sale and
strict action would be taken against those caught selling
local-make crackers. Mr Goel asked the SDMs not to issue
permission for organising "melas" and skill
games in their subdivision. The dealers were also told to
sell only the approved low intensity items of crackers. |
||
SFI to protest against fee
hike PATIALA, Oct 9 — The state unit of the Student Federation of India (SFI) has condemned the rising cost of education in Punjab and the saffronisation of the teaching curriculum under the BJP government’s rule. Mr Balwinder Rishi, president, (SFI, Punjab), while announcing the Punjabi University wing of the federation said undue burden had been put on the students after the government reduced the budget of the educational institutions. He said the cost of availing education was out of the reach of the common man. He alleged that a number of RSS-minded persons were being recruited in educational institutions due to which changes were being made in syllabuses of the various courses. He said efforts were being made to alter the history of the country. Mr Harpal Singh Cheema, convener, SFI said the federation would fight for the genuine demands of students and protest against the fee hike made by Punjabi University. The SFI wing of the
university is headed by Mr Gurpreet Singh Rattu. |
||
Phone owners allege graft by
DoT staff NANGAL, Oct 9 — Subscribers of the town have not been able to get even basic needs of telecommunication fulfilled. Despite two electronic exchanges installed here, sometimes it is difficult to get the local calls through. The STD booth operators generally put up the shutters just at 7 pm. as it is of no use to try a STD call after that. The subscribers in the town complain against the inefficiency of the local telecommunication authorities but without much result. The complaints range from inflated bills for the STD calls, poor attendance of complaints to demand of money from the subscribers while installing new telephones. Mr K.S. Bawa, Senior Assistant Plant Engineer, in the local unit of the NFL, has complained against the inflated STD bills. Mr Bawa has alleged that he has been getting inflated STD bills since April this year. Details of his phone bills show calls to Bombay, Bangalore and Madras in strange serial order, which Mr Bawa alleged he has been done deliberately. Mr Bawa kept on paying the enhanced bills till July. This year, his bill increased to Rs 10000 inspite of the fact that he stayed outstation for most of the time. When his son went to the local SDE to get the details of his enhanced phone bill, he was not attended to by official concerned using improper language. He has complained to Vigilance authorities against his enhanced bills and they have initiated inquiry into his charges. Moreover, the new telephone subscribers in another complaint have also alleged that the persons who come to install telephones at their places demand and charge Rs 200 to Rs 250 from them. The president of the local unit of the BJP, Mr Chander Kumar Bajaj has alleged that local DoT persons have charged about Rs 3 lakh from about 1000 new subscribers in Naya Nangal colony. He has demanded a
high-level inquiry into the incident. The subscribers
have also complained that their complaints fall on deaf
ears of officials concerned. The telephone complaints are
not attended for even months. When this correspondent
enquired from the local complaint office it still had 100
pending complaints. Moreover, the commercial fax machine
at the local Telegraph Office has also been lying
unrepaired for the past six months. Ordinary fax machines
which replaced it also stopped functioning within a
fortnight. This machine after being carried three times
to Jalandhar by an employee of the department for repairs
failed to function even for a single day. The DoT
authorities were however were not available for comments. |
||
Six injured in clash LALRU, Oct 9 — Six persons, including two women, were injured in a clash between members of two families of Malikpur village, 4 km from here on Thursday morning. The relations between the two families were strained over ancestral land. They clashed after a heated argument. Lathis were used, besides stone throwing at each other. This resulted in injuries to Ranbir Singh, his wife Raghubir Kaur and son Lakhwinder Singh, Dev Singh, Rumallo Devi and Gurmail Kaur. The injured were taken
to hospitals in Dera Bassi, Lalru and Ambala. The DSP, Mr
H.S. Bhullar, said cases had been registered against
members of both families. Cases against Sukhdev Singh,
Labh Singh,Pal Singh, Hardeep Singh, Santa Singh, Gurmail
Singh and Dev Singh were registered under Sections 307,
323, 324 and 342 of the IPC and against Ranbir Singh,
Raghubir Kaur and their son, Lakhwinder Singh, under
Sections 323 and 324. |
||
Mata Ganga Nivas stone laid AMRITSAR, Oct 9 — The president of the SGPC, Bibi Jagir Kaur, today laid the foundation of Mata Ganga Nivas in the Harmandar Sahib complex here. Interestingly, the place where this nivas is being built now had housed the office of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann of the SAD (Amritsar), which was demolished a few months ago and had raised a major controversy. The SGPC chief said that the nivas would have 90 rooms and four big halls and would be completed within the next two years. Bibi Jagir Kaur announced that the SGPC had decided to raise the scholarship of missionary college from Rs 600 to Rs 1000 while dearness allowance of all the SGPC employees had also been raised. The SGPC president
clarified that work relating to the fresco and murals
adorning the ceilings and walls of Akal Takht would be
undertaken by the expert artisans soon. The SGPC had
planned to invite them to take up the job which would be
completed at the earliest. |
||
3 killed in road mishap LUDHIANA, Oct 9 (PTI) — Three persons were killed 12 injured, two of them seriously, in a head-on collision between a bus and a tempo near Mulanpur Dakha on the Ludhiana-Ferozepore road, 22 km from here, this evening, the police said. The injured were admitted in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. The ill-fated bus was coming from Ludhiana. Two of the victims were identified as Malkiat Singh and his 13-year-old daughter Rajvinder Kaur of Hussanpur village. A case had been
registered in this connection. |
||
Minister's call to protect wildlife TARN TARAN, Oct 9 — The Punjab Government would spend Rs 400 crore on wildlife protection and environment. Presiding over the state-level "wildlife protection week" function at Harike, about 35 km from here, today, the Minister for Forest and Wildlife, Master Mohan Lal, called upon the people to launch a crusade to protect environment and wildlife. The minister lamented that thoughtless actions like poaching, urban development, industrialisation and extensive agriculture had contributed to the gradual decline in wildlife. The protection of wildlife was an important responsibility and the Punjab Government would do its level best to stop this decline, he said. Mr B.C. Bala, Chief
Wildlife Warden, Punjab, and Mr Gurmit Singh, Principal
Chief Conservator, Punjab, also spoke on the occasion. |
||
Sixth win for R.L. Bhatia AMRITSAR, Oct 9 — The former Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr R.L. Bhatia, has won for the sixth time from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat over the past 27 years with margin of over 31,000 votes over the BJP sitting MP and state party chief, Mr Daya Singh Sodhi. Talking to newspersons
here yesterday at his residence, Mr Bhatia said his win
was attributed to the Congress's strong secular
credentials as the minorities and Dalits had come back to
the Congress fold in large numbers. |
||
Rozgar yojna HOSHIARPUR, Oct 9 —
To raise the standard of living of the weaker sections of
society in rural areas of the district, a Swarn Jayanti
Gram Swai Rozgar Yojna (SGSY) of the Central Government
will be introduced during the current financial year.
This was disclosed by Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy
Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, while addressing in a special
meeting of the government and bank officers here on
Friday. |
||
Istri Sabha to help injured
soldiers AMRITSAR, Oct 9 — Mrs Vimla Dang, secretary of the Punjab Istri Sabha, has decided to provide help to soldiers injured and handicapped during the Kargil conflict and in the anti-terrorists operation in Jammu and Kashmir sector during this year. The Istri Sabha in a pressnote issued here today said that while the government had given a huge amount of compensation to the families of those who laid down their lives for the country but had not announced any relief to the disabled as yet. She announced that the
Istri Sabha would provide stipends and scholarships to
the children of both the martyrs and the handicapped. |
||
Held for stealing motor cycle LUDHIANA, Oct 9 — The police has arrested Harminder Singh, alias Laddu, for allegedly stealing a Yamaha motor cycle from Aggar Nagar on September 25. The motor cycle was also recovered from his possession. In another incident, the police has arrested Jagjit Singh, for selling allegedly a 111 square yard plot at Upkar Nagar to the complainant, Mr Sushil Thapar, though he had already sold it to someone else. Jagjit Singh did not
executive the sale deed in favour of Mr Thapar, although
he had received Rs 1,20,000 from him. Mr Thapar grew
suspicious and found out that the plot had already been
sold to someone else. |
||
Strike by cable operators PHAGWARA, Oct 9 — Local city cable operators today went on a flash strike in protest against ransacking of their office and control room by certain elements. Mr Parveen Kumar, a spokesman of the cable operators, alleged that costly items like decoders, TVs, CDs and VCRs were damaged in vandalism. It was learnt that
assailants raided the office to protest against screening
of a film. |
||
 |
||
 |
| 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 | |
