 |
|
| Tuesday, February 22, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Badal
flays Amarinder Rs
2.30 lakh fake currency seized ‘Ekantwas’
affects SGPC work Bribe
case: suspect’s wife writes to Jacob Panel
takes notice of firing
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Digvijay's
effigy burnt
Allotment
of ration depots quashed A
road motorists prefer to avoid Manch
to set up cultural centres Seven
peacocks die in Fazilka Mahilpuri
cremated ‘Special
kids’ celebrate annual day No
WSC meeting called
Budget
session
Thermal
plant asked to lodge FIR Students
hurt in clash on campus Two
pistols seized from Pak national 1
booked for getting govt job by fraud Shops
forced to close
Attempting
papers in English medium banned Folk
music festival begins today
|
Badal flays Amarinder CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — The Shiromani Akali Dal President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has described the Punjab Congress’s threat to boycott the counting process in Nawanshahr byelection as a “public demonstration of political nervousness and immaturity of his President, Capt Amarinder Singh”. Mr Badal in a statement said today that right from the beginning of the election campaign for Nawanshahr byelection, Capt Amarinder Singh “betrayed unbelievable desperation in making not only unsubstantiated and baseless personal allegations, but also in criticising the conduct of the Election Commission of India due to his accentuated make-belief fears regarding free and fair poll”. Describing Captain’s outburst against the election observers, who are senior officers from outside duly appointed by the Election Commission of India, Mr Badal termed it only an irresponsible gimmick. He said that Capt Amarinder Singh had found fault with the SAD, the Punjab Government, the Election Commission of India, the Election Observers and others”. The SAD President has advised Capt Amarinder Singh to put his own house in order and meet the growing challenges to his leadership within his party with a more positive and balanced approach rather than diverting the attention of his partymen by indulging in unwarranted mudslinging in electoral politics. Although it was understandable that retaining the Nawanshahr seat, which was earlier held by a Congress MLA, was a matter of political survival for him (Capt Amarinder Singh) in the face of internal dissent brewing in his own party, yet the “irresponsible attitude does not behove a political leader like him”, Mr Badal said. The statement of Mr
Badal was released to the press by Mr Kirpal Singh,
Secretary of SAD. |
Amarinder hopes for CEC action CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — The President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Capt Amarinder Singh, said today that he was looking forward to suitable action by the Chief Election Commissioner on the complaints submitted to the Election Commission’s office by the Congress with regard to Nawanshahr byelection. Appreciating the statement made by the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr M.S. Gill, that he has taken a serious view of a firing incident in Palli Jhikki village in Nawanshahr district on February 17, the polling day, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the ‘‘Punjab Congress feels that its attempt to bring to light the serious irregularities committed in Nawanshahr byelection by the Punjab Chief Minister has succeeded.’’ ‘‘Since the
basic objective of the party has been achieved, the party
will now fully participate in the counting process in the
Nawanshahr constituency’’, Capt Amarinder Singh
said. |
Rs 2.30 lakh fake currency
seized FEROZEPORE, Feb 21 — Fake currency worth over Rs 2.30 lakh was seized from five persons, including a woman in the Mallanwala area today morning. Highly placed police sources revealed that the fake currency, comprising mainly of Rs 100 denomination notes was recovered from them following a tip off. This is second major haul of fake currency notes recovered in the district, earlier seizure Rs 16 lakh was last year. Those arrested are Lakhwinder Singh, Piara Singh, Guddo Bai and Boor Singh, all residents of Langiana village and Karnail Singh, a smuggler of Kilche. Karnail Singh earlier was detained by Pakistani authorities for seven years on smuggling charges. Last year, the Jalandhar police had also arrested his brother, Sohan Singh and seized from him fake currency worth Rs 2.5 lakh. The consignment is believed to have been brought from Lahore-based smugglers, it is learnt. Kilche, village of
Karnail Singh was on police watchlist for quite some
time. |
‘Ekantwas’ affects SGPC work AMRITSAR, Feb 21 — The fortnight-long ‘Ekantwas’ of Bibi Jagir Kaur has adversely affected the functioning of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). Not only this, the stand-off between Akal Takht Jathedar and the SGPC Chief has also affected the concluding functions of the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa Panth even as the “Sikh masses seem to be divided between the two groups — the pro-Bibi Jagir Kaur group and pro-Giani Puran Singh group. This is for the first time in the 76-year history of the SGPC that its president has been restrained from functioning by the Akal Takht Jathedar though he has no legal right to do so. Under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, any action against the President of the SGPC could be taken by a majority of Shiromani Committee members only. Even then, Bibi Jagir Kaur has not cleared any file pertaining to the Shiromani Committee after her ‘excommunication’ from the Sikh Panth on January 25 by a controversial ‘hukamnama’ issued by Giani Puran Singh from Guna (Madhya Pradesh). The pre-budget subcommittee meeting could not be held so far though the ‘budget session’ is normally held before March 31. The annual budget of the SGPC is about Rs 112 crore and the President has to monitor it personally before it is presented in the General House of the SGPC. Even the executive committee meeting which should be held once a month, could not be held. The last meeting, proposed to be held on January 27, in Chandigarh was cancelled by Giani Puran Singh by issuing “hukamnama”. Apart from this, the SGPC could not take any decision to finalise the draft for amendment in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. Earlier, the SGPC had withdrawn the draft proposals for excluding Sehajdhari Sikhs from the Act. The proposals had been prepared by Justice Harbans Singh (retd), Chairman, Sikh Gurdwara Commission. In the wake of the criticism by a section of the Sikhs any proposed amendment in the Act would be finalised in the General House of the Shiromani Committee. The proposals for enactment of All-India Sikh Gurdwara Act are also yet to be finalised. However, Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, Secretary, SGPC, when contacted, claimed that the routine work of the SGPC was not affected. He said work of the committee could be done in the chief’s absence, “subject to the approval of the President” as there was such provisions in the Gurdwara Act. What is working the Sikh
masses is that the programmes, proposed to mark the
concluding function of the tercentenary celebrations
could not be finalised. Bibi Jagir Kaur had chalked out
ambitious programmes to conclude the celebrations. The
state government and the SGPC had announced during the
inaugural functions of the tercentenary celebrations that
a marshal academy and training centres for IAS and PCS
would be opened at Anandpur Sahib and other holy places
of the state. Before her excommunication from the Sikh
Panth, she had held a series of meetings to finalise the
programmes relating to the tercentenary celebrations. The
SGPC and Akal Takht also wanted to organise a number of
programmes all over the world to spread
‘Sikhism’. Even Giani Puran Singh had also
planned to travel all over the country to
‘baptise’ the Sikhs. The SPGC also wanted to
open a world Sikh university in Punjab before the
concluding of tercentenary celebrations, i.e on April 13.
However, no such decision could be taken either by Akal
Takht or the SGPC. |
SGPC seeks report on news
conference AMRITSAR, Feb 21 — The SGPC has reportedly taken a serious view of an interview given by a section of the Gurmat Gurbani Sidhant Parchark Sant Samaj at Akal Takht to the Press yesterday. The office-bearers of
the Sant Samaj had talked to a section of the Press on
the present ‘Panthic crisis’ after performing
the Sukhmani Sahib ‘path’. The SGPC has
reportedly sought a detailed report of the Press
conference at the Takht from manager, Golden Temple. The
office-bearers of the SGPC claim that as per Sikh
‘maryada’ only five designated Sikh high
priests could speak to the Press at Alak Takht. |
Badal meets Prof Manjit Singh ANANDPUR SAHIB, Feb 21 — Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, and Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, today held a close-door meeting for about 10 minutes at the residence of the Jathedar here. In view of the ongoing crisis in the Panth and the SGPC this meeting assumes importance. When contacted on phone, Prof Manjit Singh said they did not discuss any issue relating to the ongoing crisis. He said he had only discussed with Mr Badal about the concluding ceremonies of the 300th birth anniversary of the Khalsa to be held in April. Mr Badal was here to inaugurate the 45th National School Games. Speaking at the inauguration he said it was difficult for him to spare time for sports from the game being played by them (politicians). Later, talking to
mediapersons, he said it was wrong to say that SAD
workers had opened fire on Congressmen at a village
during the Nawanshahr byelection. He alleged that
Congress workers had fired on SAD workers. He said there
was no need of any inquiry into the firing incident at
this juncture as a case had been registered by the police
against two persons in this regard. |
Bribe case: suspect’s wife writes to Jacob JALANDHAR, Feb 21 (PTI) — The case of Jaswinder Singh, who was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly placed a bagful of currency notes on the table of a police officer as bribe took a new turn yesterday with the wife of the suspect claiming that he was being implicated falsely and cops had forcibly taken away the money which actually belonged to a village gurdwara. Charanjit Kaur, wife of Jaswinder Singh, alias Dulla, of Akal Pur village, near here, told reporters that a few policemen in uniform visited their home on February 13 and demanded Rs 3 lakh on a “returnable basis”, saying that the money was needed for the marriage of a police officer’s daughter. The cops, led by an SHO, searched the house and took away Rs 2 lakh from the almirah and asked us to arrange for another Rs 1 lakh by February 18, she claimed. She said the money was collected through donations from villagers for the construction of a gurdwara. She also showed receipts for the donations. She has written to Punjab Governor J.F.R. Jacob (retd), seeking his intervention and demanding a CBI inquiry or a probe by a Chandigarh-based senior police officer. She said the police used to harass them even earlier because of Dulla’s shady past when he indulged in the smuggling of opium and poppy husk. She said he quit smuggling some 10 years ago and was now engaged in farming. The SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, however, claimed that Dulla was arrested on February 18 when he went to the DSP, Mr Sajjan Singh Cheema’s office and offered him a bribe of Rs 2 lakh. Charanjit Kaur said
Dulla had gone to the DSP’s office after receiving a
message from him. |
Panel takes notice of firing JETHUKE (Bathinda), Feb 21 — The National Commission for Scheduled Cast and Scheduled Tribes has taken a suo motu notice of killing of two Dalit youths — Despal and Gurmeet Singh, allegedly in police firing in the village on January 31. Official sources said the commission had, asked the district civil and police authorities to reveal the facts of situation under which the two youths were killed allegedly in the police firing. The commission had also asked the authorities to inform it regarding the action taken by them in the case. According to sources the commission had received information that the policemen who resorted to firing to disperse the BKU (Ekta) activists on January 31 had ‘targeted” the two youths. The commission would also summon the district civil and police authorities for personal appearance in Delhi within a week, to expedite the inquiry. Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner, has already ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. Earlier, Mr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, had requested the Deputy Commissioner to hold a magisterial probe into the incident. Mr Mohomad Mustafa, DIG, Faridkot Range, is also holding an independent probe into the firing incident. The district police authorities, however, had alleged that BKU (Ekta) activists, who were making provocative speeches while blocking the rail traffic on Bathinda-Ambala rail section started pelting stones when some senior police and civil officials were holding negotiations with them. They alleged that agitators also tried to set the train on fire and opened fire. About 15 policemen were injured in the incident while two policemen sustained bullet injuries. On the other hand, the Jethuke Goli Kand Virodhi Action Committee has been mobilising the workers of opposition parties and human rights organisation for its rally to be held at Rampura town on February 29 in protest against the killing of the two youths. Meanwhile, the district administration has provided adequate security to the mini bus operators to ply their vehicles on the link roads. These mini bus operators have started plying their vehicles on various routes except Jathuke village without any changes in the fares. Official sources said the hike in fares on the villages routes, which had led to the protests, had been worked out by the Regional Transport Authorities after a comprehensive survey. Ms Pushplata, Secretary,
Lok Morcha, Punjab, demanded in a press note issued here
that the kin of those killed should be given Rs 5 lakh
each and Rs 50,000 compensation to those injured in the
firing. She also sought filing of criminal cases against
the guilty police officials, immediate release of the
arrested BKU (Ekta) leaders and probe into the whole
incident by a Judge appointed by the Chief Justice of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
Digvijay's effigy burnt AMRITSAR, Feb 21 — Bajrang Dal workers burnt the effigy of Mr Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, at a protest rally held outside Hall Gate here today. Dal members were demonstrating against the reported lathi charge and arrests of Dal members in Bhopal last week. The rally was held after
the workers took out a march from Durgiana Mandir. They
went through different bazars shouting slogans against
the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. Prominent
among the Dal members were Mr Ramesh Malhotra, Mr Harsh
Khanna and Mr Surinder Bharti. |
Allotment of ration depots quashed CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Iqbal Singh, today, quashed the allotment of ration depots to 66 persons in Patiala district and directed the respondents to hold fresh interviews for their allotment. A writ petition against the allotments was filed by Mr Tarlok Singh, a resident of Ragho Majra, Ghas Mandi, Patiala. The plea of the petitioner was that allotment of ration depots to private respondents was made in an illegal and arbitrary manner without following any definite criteria and to those having political links. Some of the allotments, said the petitioner, had been made to those ineligible. It was alleged that the committee which was appointed for making allotment did not meet and the interviews were conducted by the Assistant Food and Supply Officer, Patiala, who was not competent to do so. The Department of Food and Supplies had invited applications for allotment of 70 depots in Patiala district. The state had formed a committee in August, 1997 and interviews were conducted on June, 26, 1998. When the petitioner was called for interview, the members of the committee — the Deputy Director, (chairman of committee), the District Food and Supplies Controller and the local MLA were not present. It was alleged that process for allotment was carried out secretly and in a pick-and-choose manner. The Bench indicated that heavy cost would be imposed on officials who were responsible for illegal allotment of ration depots and asked the state counsel to give their names. Show cause notice to Director On a contempt petition filed by Mrs Vijay Kumari and eight others against Mr R.L.Kalsia, Director of Social Security in the Women's and Child Development Department, Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal issued show-cause notice for May 9. On a number of writ petitions, the High Court had quashed the appointments of Anganwari Supervisors in excess of the vacancies advertised. The department had made recruitment of 401 Anganwari Assistants as against 166 advertised posts. It had directed the respondents to readvertise the vacancies available and fill them in accordance with the law. It advised them to redetermine the merits of the candidates within two months and terminate the appointments within one month after that i.e. by January 13. It was alleged that the
respondents did not take any steps to terminate the
appointments of illegally appointed candidates and the
Department had made itself liable to be proceeded against
for contempt. |
A road motorists prefer to
avoid PATHANKOT: The Kali Mata Temple road has become a nuisance for those living in the adjoining residential areas. As it lacks sewers, water collects on the road during the monsoon. The whole road is converted into a dirty pond even after a brief spell of rain. Rickshaw pullers charge Rs 10 to Rs 20 for taking people through this road. The road also has a railway crossing, which remain closed most of the time for the narrow-gauge trains bound for Jogindernagar (Himachal Pradesh) and Pathankot. The gateman managing this manual railway crossing normally closes the gates 15 to 20 minutes before the trains pass. At Dhangu road shunting engines passing through the crossing as a precaution to avoid any untoward incident which creates a traffic hazard. There are long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road due to prolonged periods of closure. This poses a threat to cyclists and children, especially during school hours. Though the road has been declared as a one-way road, but even then the traffic cop allows certain vehicles to pass from the “wrong” side thus violating the traffic rules.
|
Manch to set up cultural
centres CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — Addressing office-bearers and members of the Punjabi Vikas Manch at Mohali, its chairman S. Avtar Singh Arora said the manch would form cultural centres in the rural areas to spread awareness about Punjabi culture through seminars and cultural programmes. The village sarpanch or BDO will be informed in advance so that arrangements could be made to promote heritage and culture of Punjab. The first programme in the series will be held at the historic Bhattha Sahib village in Ropar district. Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, patron of the manch, will preside over the function. Units of the manch would also be formed in states outside Punjab. A unit is already functioning in New York. Mr Parvinder Singh Saini
said the function to honour Mr Trilochan Singh, on his
appointment by the Union Government as the Vice-Chairman
of the Minorities Commission will be held on Feb 27 in
the auditorium of State College of Education, Patiala.
Padamshri Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary to the
Punjab Chief Minister, will preside. |
Seven peacocks die in Fazilka FAZILKA, Feb 21 — Even as the residents of this town are yet to forget the killing of 21 cows by poisoning allegedly by some anti-social elements in the recent past, the matter of death of at least seven peacocks under mysterious circumstances has come to light. Mr Kanwaljit Singh Randhawa, Tehsildar, told TNS that these peacocks, including two males and five females, had died about 10 days ago under mysterious circumstances. The real reason of the death could not be ascertained as the matter came to the notice after the peacocks were buried by the people in the fields in which these were found dead. Mr Ajay Maluja, DSP, said peacocks were, however, not killed by any hunter. He said the postmortem of the peacocks could not be done as they were buried by the people. Mr Randhawa said as per
his information the peacocks had died after consuming
some eatable sprayed with the insecticides. |
Mahilpuri cremated HOSHIARPUR, Feb 21 — Mr Baldev Singh Mahilpuri, a senior member of the SGPC, who expired last night, was cremated at Mahilpur, 24 km from here this afternoon. He died at the age of 81, and is survived by two sons and a daughter. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal visited the residence of Mr Baldev Singh and met the family members to express condolences over his death. Mr Mahilpuri served as the member of the SGPC for over 25 years. The Chief Minister was
accompanied by Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Capt Kanwaljit
Singh, Finance Minister, Mr Sucha Singh Langah, PWD
Minister, Mr Sohan Singh Thandal, Bibi Mohinder Kaur
(both state ministers) and other senior leaders of SAD. |
‘Special kids’ celebrate
annual day LUDHIANA, Feb 21 — The first annual function of Ek Prayaas, an institution for children with special needs, was held here yesterday. Children of the school presented a colourful show of song and dance. The most captivating dance item was presented by Surbhi and Parul (who performed while sitting on a wheelchair). Speaking on the occasion, Ms Abha Ranjan, a therapist from New Delhi, said society was still trying to segregate special children. Earlier, Mrs Sameera Bector, president of the social action group that runs the school, said the first batch of three students had passed out and were read to seek employment in accordance with the skills learnt at the school. Mr Deepak Singla,
President, Ludhiana Citizens Health Council, was the
guest of honour. |
Seminar on stone treatment held LUDHIANA, Feb 21 — Slight changes in diet and increase in the intake of fluids can help alleviate the problem of renal stones in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, known as the “stone belt”. This was stated by Dr Rajesh Ahlawat, a urologist and surgeon at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, while delivering a seminar here yesterday on “Recent Advances in Treatment of Stones” being organised by Bassi Hospital, Ludhiana, and Apollo Hospital during the endo-urological workshop-cum-seminar. Dr Ahlawat said men consuming a diet rich in calcium had 35 per cent lower risk of stone formation, while women taking calcium supplements, separate from the meal, had 20 per cent increased chances of stone formation. He stressed increase in the intake of fluids to maintain a urine output of 2.5 ltr per day, which would considerably reduce the formation of stones. Dr N Subramanium, a urologist, Apollo Hospital, delivered a lecture on the “Management of Prostrate Diseases”. He said these diseases affected 50 per cent of men above 50 years of age. Earlier, during the
workshop Dr Ahlawat and Dr Subramanium gave a live
demonstration on operatives on percotaneous nephro
lithotomy (PCNL) for kidney stones and trans-urethral
resection of prostrate (TURP) on five patients. |
No WSC meeting called CHANDIGARH, Feb 21 — The World Sikh Council said here today that no meeting of the executive committee of the council had been summoned to discuss whether the seminar on the calendar issue should be held or not. Clarifying a report published in The Tribune today, the working Secretary-General of the Council Major-Gen Narinder Singh (retd) said no meeting was scheduled to be held today in this connection. He said that, in fact,
the seminar was already postponed by the council. It was
reported today that the Jathedar of Akal Takht has
‘‘virtually imposed’’ a ban on the
holding of a seminar on Nanakshahi calendar by the
council. |
Budget session CHANDIGARH, Feb 21
— The Budget session of the Punjab Assembly will
commence from March 6, according to Mr O.P. Verma,
Secretary of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. |
Thermal plant asked to lodge FIR ROPAR, Feb 21 — The PSEB has asked the Ropar Thermal Plant (RTP) authorities to lodge an FIR against two labour contractors who were allegedly involved in a case of EPF fraud involving nearly Rs 1 crore. Mr Satish Mittal, Chief Engineer of the RTP, said here today that the authorities had received a communiqué from the PSEB regarding the lodging of an FIR against the contractors. Mr Mittal also said the proceedings might take a couple of days as the authorities had to prepare a document to fulfil the legal formalities. The authorities were also seeking confirmation from the bank regarding the authenticity of all those challans which were submitted to the RTP authorities by the contractors as a proof of depositing Rs 1 crore of EPF of nearly 1,000 workers with the Regional Employees Provident Fund Commissioner (REPFC) at Chandigarh, after getting authentic record from the bank, an FIR would be lodged, he added. The Chief Engineer also stated that a three-member committee, comprising the Deputy Chief Engineer (Coal), Mr Ajmer Singh, SE (Headquarter), Mr A.S. Kalsi, and Chief Welfare Officer of the plant, Mr Bhalinder Singh, had been constituted to put forward the version of the PSEB before the REPFC. The Chief Engineer also
said a contractor Sodhi Erectors had already deposited Rs
24 lakh with the REPFC, while another contractor of
Chadha Construction Company had not deposited any amount
so far with the REPFC. |
Students hurt in clash on campus PATIALA, Feb 21 — Five youths were injured in a clash between two groups at a restaurant on the varsity campus here this afternoon. The incident occurred at around 1.00 p.m. when Jashandeep Singh, an MBA student and an office-bearer of the Punjabi University Students Association (PUSA), was taking some food at Pakwaan food joint along with his two friends Kulwinder Singh and Kulwinder Gill, who are not students of the university. A heated exchange of the trio soon followed with members of the Punjabi University Students Welfare Association (PUSWA), a rival student organisation. The exchange developed into blows and took an ugly turn when sharp-edged weapons were used. According to eye witnesses, members of PUSWA numbered more than 10, while the other group comprised less than five members. The weapons were taken out from cars parked nearby. Among the injured are Vikas Puri and Barjinder Singh. All injured have been admitted to Rajindra Hospital here. Jashandeep Singh said they were attacked from behind, while they were at the restaurant. He said he did not know the provocation for the attack though on Friday last, members of the rival groups had a heated exchange over some matter. Friends of the injured students of the other group who could not be contacted told the police that they were attacked by PUSA members. Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, SSP, said the police had ordered a detailed investigation into the matter. Meanwhile, a university press release issued in the evening said that the Vice-Chancellor, taking cognisance of the clash, had constituted a committee, headed by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dr Ram Murti Goel, to inquire into the matter, the committee will also look into the loopholes, if any, in the internal security arrangements of the varsity. The release said the committee would also suggest administrative and disciplinary measures so that such incidents do not occur again. The committee has been directed to submit its report by February 24. Interestingly, the
university has yet to fix responsibility in an earlier
incidence of violence involving OPUS and ABVP, two other
groups in the campus. The incident occurred outside the
campus but involved university students. The university
had then also constituted a committee whose findings are
yet to be known. |
Two pistols seized from Pak
national AMRITSAR, Feb 21 — Two China-made pistols were seized from one Pakistani national Mohammad Yusuf, a resident of Gujranwala, who reached at Attari railway station in the Samjhauta Express. The seizure of the weapons have once again revealed the nefarious designs of Pakistan to smuggle weapons, narcotics and fake currency with a view to destabilise the country. Mr Amrish Jain, Deputy
Commissioner of Customs (Preventives), refused to give
details of the seizure on the plea that it would hamper
the investigation. |
1 booked for getting govt
job by fraud SANGRUR, Feb 21 — A case has been registered against Billu Singh, son of Gurdial Singh, a resident of Ranike village, 20 km from here on a charge of obtaining a government job by fraudulent means by adopting the name and educational qualifications of his brother. Disclosing this to mediapersons here today, Dr Arpit Shukla, district police chief, stated that Billu Singh was an illiterate and got the job by adopting the name of his brother Gurmail Singh and produced the eight class certificate of his brother. Billu Singh continued to be in service for over 15 years with the consent of his father and brother. He is currently posted as a class IV employee at the office of the District Attorney. The fraud came to light
following a written complaint by residents of the
village. The suspect has absconded. |
Shops forced to close AMRITSAR, Feb 21 —
The local police today forced newspaper stalls outside
Gandhi Gate to put up the shutters in wake of visit of Dr
Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He
was here to attend a social function. |
Attempting papers in English
medium banned GARHSHANKAR, Feb 21 — The Superintendent, Examinations of the Punjab School Education Board in a letter to various government schools of this area last week, has banned class IX and X students from solving question papers of Mathematics and Science in English medium. Students argue that since they have read the above subjects in English medium, they can’t at the last moment, take their examinations in Punjabi medium. If English medium was to be banned, it should have been done at the beginning of the academic session. Students, teachers,
principals and other organisations have demanded the
intervention of the Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh, in
the matter. |
Folk music festival begins
today PATIALA, Feb 21 — Over 200 folk artistes from various belts of Punjab will participate in a two-day fourth Punjabi folk music festival to be held on the Punjabi University campus from February 22. The festival is being organised by the university’s Department of Music during which vocal and instrumental folk artistes will perform on various traditional instruments, besides the vocal recitals. According to Dr Gurnam Singh, Head of the department, the main objective of these folk festivals was to explore and preserve various folk musical forms for research purposes, besides reviving and propagating these folk forms, which had already lost into the oblivion, for the future generations. The audio-visual recordings of the previous folk festivals had already been preserved in a documentary form. The festival will be inaugurated by Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor of the university, tomorrow. An exhibition of folk instruments will also be organised on the occasion, besides film shows of the previous three folk festivals. Folk artistes, who had
helped sustain the glory of Punjabi culture would be
honoured on the concluding day of the festival, Dr Gurnam
Singh said. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
