Monday, October 11, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, October 11, 1999 |
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Son
confesses to father's murder No salaries for 7 months |
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Two
Pakistan nationals held
SAD vote share declines No danger to Badal govt: Mittal
Mittal, Kalia say no to Cong
demand VHP, Bajrang Dal rallies from Oct
25 Robbers batter man to death Alert against dengue deaths Cong flays hike in diesel price Arhtiyas for meeting CM Youth camp at Anandpur Sahib |
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Son confesses to father's
murder FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 10 — The Sirhind police claims to have solved the murder of Balbir Singh of Mudrian village following the arrest of Ravinder Singh, son of the deceased. The murder was shown as an accident by the culprit, who himself informed the police about it and took his father to Civil Hospital, where he died two days later. The police then registered a case under Section 174, Cr.P.C. According to Mr Dilbag Singh Pannu, DSP, Fatehgarh Sahib when the case file came to him for verification and his suspicion was aroused on reading the statement of different persons. When the police surrounded Ravinder for interrogation, he began to mount political pressure saying on the one hand his father had died and on the other the police was harassing him. As soon as the election procession was completed he was taken into custody and on interrogation he confessed to the crime. Ravinder said he had planned the murder of his father as he planned to give his share of the land to his younger brother. So he hired two goons, Labha Singh and Rajinder Singh. One evening, when Balbir was returning on a scooter after selling paddy, he was way laid by the trio, and hit by iron rods near Bhaursi village. He was taken in an unconscious condition to hospital by Ravinder, who then informed the police that his father's scooter had slipped, thus the injuries. When his younger brother and other family members came to the hospital to help they were persuaded to leave. Ravinder confessed that in hospital he had again tried to murder the old man. Mr Pannu said Labh Singh
and Ravinder Singh had criminal backgrounds and were
earlier involved in murder cases. He said all three
accused had been arrested and a case under Sections 302,
114, 193, 120B, 34, 506, IPC had been registered. |
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No salaries for 7 months AMRITSAR, Oct 10 — Senior physicians and staff nurses of the Ayurvedic Department all over the state have not received their salaries for the past seven months. Similarly, junior resident doctors, working in Government Medical College, have yet to receive their salaries for nine months. While the junior resident doctors have received salaries only for two months since their appointment in October last year, the senior physicians and the staff nurses in the Ayurved Department have received salaries only for three months since November, 1998. While the salaries of the senior physicians and the staff nurses have been withheld due to lengthy correspondence between the Finance Department and the Directorate of Ayurvedic, sources said objections were being raised by the former on "flimsy grounds" due to a financial crunch. An official communication sent by the District Ayurvedic/Unani Officer, addressed to the Director, Ayurved, said the salaries could not be disbursed as the department was yet to receive the budget sanctions for the year 1999-2000. The sources said this was the first time in the past five years that the salaries of the senior physicians and the nurses all over the state had been withheld. Interestingly, the employees concerned have mentioned income from salaries in their income tax returns though they have not received the salaries so far. On the other hand,
resentment prevails among the junior resident doctors
also who have not received their salaries. However, Dr
O.P. Mahajan, Principal Government Medical College, says
the salaries will be released shortly. He said the delay
was due to non-filling of the bonds by them. |
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Two Pakistan nationals held AMRITSAR, Oct 10 — The police has foiled an ISI plan to carry out subversive activity during the festival season by arresting two Pakistan nationals and recovering huge quantities of RDX along with detonators and firearms from them. Talking to reporters here today, the IG (Border Range), Mr J.P. Birdi, said following a tip-off, the local police nabbed the two Pakistan nationals, Rashid Ahmed (24) and Hamid (20) from the Chheharta area last night. Mr Birdi added the two ISI operatives planned to contact Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar) militants to indulge in subversive activities by planting RDX and causing blasts during the festival season in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The IG said their interrogation revealed that the two entered India from the Jammu-Samba border about 10 days ago and came here to establish a contact with the Pakistan-supported militant outfits. They had been given special training by the ISI at various camps located in Narowal and Sialkot for handling explosives and arms. The police recovered four kg of RDX with timing devices and five detonators from the fields. Mr Birdi said the two nationals carried maps of formations of the Army in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, especially on the international border. The police was working on certain leads provided by them to nab their harbourers and smash the entire operation. The police had provided information to the Army and the BSF about these elements so that a sustained campaign could be launched against them in the border districts. Mr Birdi ruled out the
possibility of infiltration from the Punjab border in
view of greater vigil in the Ferozepore and Ajnala
sectors. |
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'Amarinder should ask Sonia to
quit' CHANDIGARH, Oct 10 — Five Punjab ministers today called upon the Punjab Congress President, Capt Amarinder Singh, to ask Mrs Sonia Gandhi to resign her post along with Chief Ministers of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Goa if he was serious about his demand for the resignation of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. "The Congress has suffered the worst defeat in history under the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the party has been routed from at least five states where it ruled. But Congressmen, true to their traditions of sycophancy, are hailing Mrs Gandhi as a great saviour", the Ministers Raja Narinder Singh, Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Dr Rattan Singh and Nusrat Ali Khan said in a joint statement here. The ministers also lashed out at former SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra for being "in league" with Congress leaders in demanding the imposition of financial emergency and central rule in Punjab. Mr Tohra is clearly speaking the language of Capt Amarinder Singh, the statement said. The elections had to be seen as an integrated nationwide mandate for the leadership of Mr A.B. Vajpayee and not a verdict on local issues. The ministers took serious note of the statements of Mr Tohra before and after the elections. They said Mr Tohra and his colleagues worked openly with the Congress for the defeat of Akali candidates, they alleged. The ministers praised the firm, clear and farsighted leadership being provided by Mr Badal to the party and the state. The ministers
felicitated Mr Vajpayee for leading the NDA to a historic
and emphatic triumph in the just-concluded elections and
said that the NDA owed this triumph largely to the
successful policies pursued by Mr Vajpayee, both on
domestic as well as foreign affairs. |
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SAD vote share declines BATHINDA, Oct 10 — The vote share of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the just concluded Lok Sabha poll has come down to 40.53 per cent from 49.68 per cent in 1998. In Bathinda, which is also considered to be an Akali Dal stronghold, the SAD candidate, Mr Harinder Singh Khalsa, secured 44.72 per cent votes in the 1996 Lok Sabha poll and defeated the Congress candidate, Mr Sarvjot Singh, by about 1 lakh votes. In 1998, Mr Chitan Singh Samao further increased the percentage of votes to 53.01 when he secured 359527 of the total 684594 votes polled. Mr Samao then defeated the Congress-CPI alliance candidate, Mr Bhan Singh Bhora, by a margin of 49856 votes. Mr Bhora share was only 45.23 per cent in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. In the 1999 Lok Sabha poll, Mr Bhora's had increased his vote share to 49.86 per cent while Mr Samao who was in the fray again could secure only 40.53 per cent votes and was defeated by Mr Bhora by a margin of 61317 votes. Mr Bhora was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha from this constituency in 1971 on the CPI ticket with the support of the Congress. He was again elected to the Lok Sabha on the CPI ticket with the support of the Congress in the current Lok Sabha poll. Mr Bhora also unsuccessfully contested against Mr Samao in 1998 Lok Sabha elections. In the 1998 Lok Sabha poll, Mr Samao defeated Mr Bhora by getting an edge over Mr Bhora in seven of the total nine assembly segments. Mr Bhora polled more votes than Mr Samao only in the Bathinda and Mansa assembly segments. However, in the just-concluded poll, Mr Bhora got an edge over Mr Samao in eight assembly segments except Sardulgarh where he polled about 5,000 votes less than Mr Samao. Interestingly, Mr Samao polled about 6,000 and 15,000 less votes in the Rampura Phul and Bathinda assembly segments despite the fact that Mr Sikander Singh Malooka and Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, representing the segments and Punjab ministers. Frequent elections have
shown that people in the constituency are becoming
disinterested. In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, 61.30 per
cent of the voters exercised their right to franchise
which came down to 57.12 in the 1998. In the 1999 poll,
only 53.92 per cent of the electorate cast votes. |
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Resuscitating Punjab CHANDIGARH, Oct 10 — As a consequence of the parliamentary poll, Punjab today is precariously placed in the crucible of time. The state is financially broke and politically battered, the future looks scary. Yet undoing the wrongs is neither difficult nor impossible. Punjabis' resilience and certain political and administrative correctives, if applied with determination, can enable the state pull itself out of the present quagmire of hopelessness and despondency. The situation is entirely retrievable. Only political will has to match with political action taking the people into confidence and winning their trust in their own interest. This ray of hope was shown today by Dr S.S. Johl, a member of the Punjab planning board and an internationally recognised economist. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, and was a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council and Chairman, Agricultural Prices Commission. At present he is a director with the Reserve Bank of India. Talking to TNS, Dr Johl said revenue resources need to be "revived". He has prepared a backgrounder as to how to go about. Punjabis are one community, who are willing to pay provided the services provided for commensurate with the cost being charged. All that Punjab required to do was to roll back a large number of unproductive concessions and sops and concentrate on certain specific areas through rationalisation of available manpower and redeployment of sources and resources to yield desired results. A "total
commitment" at every turn within the administration
could make a world of difference in pricing the social
services being rendered by the state and ensuring
improvement in the delivery system of the same, may it be
in the field of education, health, realisation of taxes,
resuscitating research in agriculture or reinventing
college and university education. Making these
institutions self-sustaining and financially viable is
imperative. The same holds true of the municipalities,
which have been gagged and deprived of natural flow of
revenue from certain sources. |
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No danger to Badal govt:
Mittal LUDHIANA, Oct 10 — Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said here today that there was no danger to the SAD-BJP government. Talking to reporters, he said the setback to the alliance was temporary. Much of the setback could be attributed to the state government’s failure to publicise various welfare schemes started by it and the division in the SAD. Mr Mittal said the alliance needed to do introspection and said the Chief Minister had constituted two committees to go into the reasons for the debacle. Talking about paddy
procurement, the Food and Civil Supplies Minister said so
far 63.10 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured. Of
this, 23.6 lakh tonnes had been procured by the official
agencies. He, however, expressed his dissatisfaction with
the procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI)
which had been unable to meet its 40 per cent target so
far. |
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Mittal, Kalia say no to Cong
demand PHILLAUR, Oct 10 — Two senior BJP ministers of Punjab, the Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, and the Health Minister, Mr Manoranjan Kalia, have rejected the Congress demand of resignation of the SAD-BJP Government in view of the good show in Lok Sabha elections by the Congress party. Talking to newsmen here yesterday, both the ministers said the Congress in Punjab could win the elections due to division of Akali votes because the Tohra-led All India Shiromani Akali Dal and not due to credibility of the Congress. They said Congress men should demand immediate resignation of the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, in whose leadership the Congress fail to get majority in the Lok Sabha seats. They suggested to Congress men to seek resignations of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi Chief Ministers. Mr Mittal and Mr Kalia
said the SAD-BJP Government had constituted a ministerial
sub-committee headed by the Chief Minister and an
administrative committee headed by the Chief Secretary to
review the situation and chalk out new plans and policies
for all round development of the state. |
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Alert against dengue deaths LUDHIANA, Oct 10 — Punjab Health Minister Manoranjan Kalia has declared a red alert in the state in wake of the rising trend in dengue fever deaths. The minister was talking to media persons after attending a seminar on "medical waste management in Ludhiana" at Christian Medical College and Hospital here this morning. He said he had convened a meeting of officials of the Health Department to discuss strategies to counter the dengue cases in the state at Chandigarh tomorrow. While confirming 263 cases of dengue so far, Mr Kalia said that he had asked the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Rajinder Kaur to call the owners of various nursing homes to get information about dengue cases as these were going unreported. Mr Kalia said that adequate arrangements for dengue patients had also been made in the civil hospital and free of cost treatment would be provided to the poor patients. The health minister
claimed that the cleanliness drive launched in the city
by the municipal corporation was on at full swing.
Earlier while addressing the seminar on medical waste
management, Mr Kalia said that the state government, in
coordination with the municipal corporations, municipal
committees and managements of various health institutions
would make serious efforts to counter health hazards
arising out of the disposal of medical waste. |
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VHP, Bajrang Dal rallies from
Oct 25 PHILLAUR, Oct 10 — The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal will organise rallies throughout the state from October 25 to November 5. Stating this Parishad's
State Organising Secretary, Mr Chiranjeev Lal Sharma,
told newsmen here yesterday that the rallies would be
organised at all district headquarters on October 25 and
a state-level demonstration at Jalandhar on November 2.
He said demonstrations would be organised on November 5
on the visit of Pope John Paul to India. |
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Cong flays hike in diesel
price AMRITSAR, Oct 10 — Mr M M Singh Cheema, veteran trade unionist and chairman Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (intellectual cell) strongly condemned the sudden hike in the prices of the diesel. He said the hike was unjust, unwarranted, anti-farmer and anti—industry and would have an adverse effect on the economy of the country at this critical juncture. What was worse, the Punjab Government had also imposed a 4 per cent sales tax hike. The people of Punjab had been given a big blow by the BJP-SAD government for handing them a crushing defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, he said. Mr Cheema appealed to
the government to withdraw the hike immediately or face
an agitation. |
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Second general hospital starts BATHINDA, Oct 10 — With the conversion of children hospital here into a general hospital, the second general hospital has come into being in the city. Dr Baba Ram, Civil Surgeon, told TNS that the Punjab Government had ordered to convert the children hospital into general hospital in the recent past. The out patient department and the operation theatre had started working. He added that the
hospital would cater to residents of interior of the city
particularly those residing in the trans-railway
colonies. He said the town was perhaps the first in
Punjab where two 100-bedded general hospitals were
working. |
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Arhtiyas for meeting CM PATIALA, Oct 10 — The Federation of Arhatiya Associations of Punjab yesterday urged the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to invite traders' organisations to discuss their problems and issue directions for holding sales tax advisory committee meetings at state and district levels. The association president, Mr Bal Krishan Singla, in a statement here, said even the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, had admitted that undue harassment of the trading community at the hands of the Excise and Taxation Department and octroi contractors had cost the Akali Dal (Badal) dearly in the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Singla said the trading community did not want reduction of taxes, but their rationalisation. He said there was a need to take the traders out of the clutches of inspector raj and redtapism. Mr Singla said arhatiyas
neither collected any sales tax nor any sales tax forms
hence were not liable to pay any tax because the same was
paid by the purchaser. He said their annual 'peshi'
before the assessing authorities was meaningless. |
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Robbers batter man to death KAPURTHALA, Oct 10 — Armed robbers in a bid to commit dacoity killed a man and seriously injured his wife at Nurowal village falling under police station Sultanpur Lodhi last night. The victim was identified as Sarup Singh. According to the first information report lodged with police, armed robbers entered the house of Sarup Singh after scaling the wall and attacked both husband and wife with iron rods after they awoke. Before leaving they took away gold ornaments and searched the house. Jasbir Kaur and Palwinder Kaur, daughter-in-laws of the injured, who were sleeping in an adjoining room, woke up but did not raise the alarm because of fear. Both the injured were brought to local civil hospital, where Sarup Singh succumbed to his injuries. Chanan Kaur, who was seriously injured was referred to CMC Hospital at Ludhiana. The doctors of the local Civil Hospital reportedly declined to conduct a post mortem on the body on the pretext that the incident took place in the jurisdiction of Sultanpur Lodhi police station. Residents of the village took the body back without a post mortem. Three sons of the
deceased reside abroad. The robbers who had entered the
house in the hope of a big haul found little of value. |
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Outcry over support price JALANDHAR: Resentment prevails among the paddy growers over the sluggish procurement of paddy by government agencies and also over the failure of the state government to pay the minimum support price. Ironically, it was the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who had earlier rejected the minimum support price fixed by the Centre. He had even led a deputation to the central government and had demanded that the minimum support price be raised to Rs 650 from Rs 490 and 520 per quintal. But now he had failed even to ensure that farmers get the minimum support price. The paddy growers are forced to sell their produce at Rs 430 to Rs 460 per quintal. The purchasing agencies either desist farmers from entering the market or delay buying the produce. Mr Avtar Singh, a farmer from Quadian village in the district, alleged that officials of purchasing agencies, corrupt politicians and rice mill owners, were working against the interests of the paddy growers. He said the economy of the state would shatter if the exploitation of farmers continued. The farmers also
reminded the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr
Madan Mohan Mittal of his promise that dispute committee
would take up complaints of farmers, especially those
relating to the quality of their produce. They claimed
that nobody cared to listen to their complaints and
demands. |
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Youth camp at Anandpur Sahib ANANDPUR SAHIB, Oct 10 — Dedicated to the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa, an eight-day national integration camp under the aegis of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib will be organised here by the National Youth Project, an organisation for youths, from November 18 to 25 this year. About 5,000 youths from 25 states and some union territories are expected to participate in the camp. Dr S.N. Subba Rao Director of the project, visited the town recently and held a meeting with Jathedar Prof Manjit Singh. Talking to newsmen, Dr Rao said these youths would plant saplings on the Mata Naina Devi road here in the memory of martyrs of their respective states. He also appreciated the move of Prof Manjit Singh for distributing saplings as ‘prasad’ at the takht. Dr Rao also said the youth would get acquainted with Punjab; gidda and bhangra. Mr Harbhajan Singh Yogi
from America, would also impart training in yoga and
meditation to the youths. He said in the evening the
campers would recite from scripture of their religion. |
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Kirti Samaj Party threatens
stir PATIALA, Oct 10 — The All-India Kirti Samaj Party (AIKSP) has threatened to launch an agitation, if the state government does not roll back the sales tax hike on pulses, branded and packed biscuits and diesel. Disclosing this here
today party secretary-general Ranjit Singh Thekedar said
the state government had taken the steps to raise money
without thinking of the effect it would have on the
common man. He said with the hike in the prices of
diesel, the prices of essential commodities would also go
up. |
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Sales tax hike resented PATIALA, Oct 10 — The Patiala Chamber of Industries has urged the Punjab Government to withdraw the sales tax hike on diesel and also opposed the proposed government’s move to put up special check posts at entry points in the state. Mr N.S. Khurana, President of the chamber, said in a press note here yesterday that hike in sales tax following hike in diesel prices would affect agriculture and industrial sectors and shoot up prices of all commodities. Mr Khurana said ultimately the common man bear the brunt. The chamber has also
expressed displeasure at the proposed move of the Punjab
government to put up sales tax check posts at all the
entry points of the state Mr. Khurana said the check
posts were put up two years back but were withdrawn. The
government should re-examine the entire issue, he added. |
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Yogi Raj Singh dead CHANDIGARH, Oct 10 — Mr Yogi Raj Singh, son of Mr Suba Singh, who was Press Secretary to former Punjab Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh, died at Amritsar this morning after a protracted illness. He was 48. He was cremated in the afternoon. Mr Yogi Raj Singh leaves
his mother, wife, two sons and four daughters. |
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Traffic safety week LUDHIANA, Oct 10 — The police is observing traffic safety week from October 11 to 15. A special drive against traffic violations would be launched. Overloaded autorickshaws and vehicles causing pollution would also be challaned. Awareness campaigns to
educate children about traffic rules would be launched by
holding competitions in painting, debates, quiz etc. |
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