 |
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| Tuesday, April 4, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Oppn
walks out over passing of Bill Migrant
labour issue rocks House SGPC
finalises programme Pak
delegation favours talks Cong
party poll may be postponed
Punjab
CPI to draw action plan |
|
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Ex-servicemen
need not seek eligibility again Community
policing shows results Helping
rural youth to be independent ‘Rasta
roko’ martyrs’ kin honoured MC
announces water supply timings PHSC
bans drug Westernisation
decried Death
mourned
Telecom
clerk held for taking bribe ASI
commits suicide Girl
crushed to death by truck Car
stolen
All
set for GND University exams
Purchase
centres for rabi crops set up NFL
top management reshuffled
|
Oppn walks out over passing
of Bill CHANDIGARH, April 3 — As many as 10 Bills, including the most controversial the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2000, were passed in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha today. Noisy scenes were witnessed in the House over the passing of the Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2000. Declaring it as a “black law”, the entire Opposition walked out from the House raising slogans against the Bill and the Punjab Government. Earlier, Mr Ramesh Dogra, a Congress MLA, while speaking on this Bill had stated in the House that the Opposition had decided to boycott this Bill. Mr Hardev Arshi spoke at length on this Bill. He said that the SAD-BJP government had brought some very good amendments in the Panchayati Raj Act which were appreciated by all, including the main Opposition Congress Party in 1998. But the same government revoked those amendments today by bringing the Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2000. However, by passing the Bill today, the Punjab Government reverted back to the provision made by the Beant Singh government in the Panchayati Raj Act. With today’s amendment in the Bill, the Punjab Government has made a provision to elect 30 per cent members of panchayat samitis directly and 70 per cent indirectly. Mr Arshi observed that the Punjab Government had gone one step ahead of Mr Beant Singh’s government. He said that such an amendment made through the Bill passed today was not expected from the SAD-BJP government which had won the election in the last Vidhan Sabha by promising that democratic character of all government bodies would be restored. According to Mr Arshi, the government passed the Bill as it was fearing that it would not win the coming panchayat samiti elections which were due to be held in October last year but had not been held yet. Replying to questions raised and observations made by Mr Arshi, the Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, said that the Bill had been passed to ensure proper representations to panchayats in the panchayati samitis. He said that through direct election, representation of sarpanches or panchayats could not be ensured in panchayat samitis. Another important Bill passed in the House was regarding The Punjab Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Amendment Bill 2000. By passing this Bill, appellate powers have been vested in the Deputy Commissioners or any other officer as the situation warranted. Earlier such powers were with Divisional Commissioners. Another Bill was passed making a very significant amendment in the Registration Act of 1908. By passing the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2000, Section 67 of the Principal Act (The Registration Act 1908) has been omitted. Under the Principal Act, the Registrars of Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and Chennai had the powers to register any document pertaining to Punjab. Now these powers have been withdrawn by passing the Bill today. Among other Bills passed
were the Punjab Entertainments Duty (Amendment and
Validation Bill 2000, the Punjab Tax on Entry of Goods
into Local Areas Bill 2000, the Punjab General Sales Tax
(Amendment) Bill 2000, the Punjab Water Supply and
Sewerage Board (amendment) bill, 2000, the Punjab School
Education Board (Amendment) Bill 2000 and the Punjab
Generals Tax (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill 2000. |
Migrant labour issue rocks House CHANDIGARH, April 3 — For the first time the issue of migrant labour was prominently discussed today in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha during question hour. Members from the Treasury Benches asked questions in this connection. The Punjab Government made clear in the House that it has not taken any step to prevent the permanent settlement of migrant labour in Punjab. A question in this connection was asked by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal MLA, Capt Balbir Singh. Replying in the House, Mr Baldev Raj Chawla, a minister, said it was a fundamental right provided in the Constitution that any citizen could settle anywhere in the country. Not satisfied with the reply, Mr Bath asked a supplementary question that if this was true then why the states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and certain other state governments have imposed a ban on the purchase of landed or other property in their states. Another ruling party MLA, Mr Makhan Singh, asking the supplementary question on the same issue said if other state governments could ban the purchase of landed and other property what prevented the Punjab Government from doing the same. Mr Chawla said that there was no such law to ban the settlement. Mr Gurdeep Singh Bhullar, another SAD MLA, asking another supplementary on this issue said that the migrants were not only settling in Punjab but they were also getting registered as voters in Punjab. It should be stopped. Mr Chawla again repeated the same that there was no law to do this. Mr Bhullar said that one person could be a voter at one place. Mr Hardev Arshi, a CPI MLA, said that there was a lot of exploitation of migrant labour in Punjab. Labourers were being kept as bounded labour and so on. What steps had been taken by the government to stop labour exploitation, he asked. Mr Chawla said that there was no bounded labour in Punjab. Mr Jagdish Sawhney, a BJP MLA from Batala, asked about the number of migrant labour at present and what was their annual inflow in the state. The minister said that no exact data was available in this connection. SAD MLA Hira Singh Gabaria said that crime rate in the state had gone up due to migrant labour in big cities. Another issue which prominently figured in the House was the release of grants for urban settlements. Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr Sat Pal Saini, Mr Jagdish Sawhney, both from the BJP and Mr Romesh Dogra from the Congress said that no funds for the development of urban settlements, especially in Gurdaspur district, had been released. They alleged that the government was discriminating with the urban areas in Gurdaspur district. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta raised the issue of international airport at Amritsar. He said that the airport project did not figure in the list of new such projects released by the central government. Nor any funds had been released in this connection. He said the government should come out with the facts in this connection. Mr Shangara Ram
Sahungara raised the issue of non-promotion of Scheduled
Caste lecturers as principals of government colleges. He
said three names of lecturers belonging to the Scheduled
Castes were cleared by the Departmental Promotion
Committee (DPC) but they had not been given appointment
letters. He walked out from the House raising slogans
against the government on this issue. Members of the
Congress, the CPI and the Akali Dal (Amritsar) supported
him on this issue. |
Tercentenary closing ceremony ANANDPUR SAHIB, April 3 — The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) today finalised the programme for organising the concluding ceremonies of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa on the occasion of Baisakhi from April 11 to April 13 here. The programmes were finalised by Bibi Jagir Kaur, President of the SGPC, Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar. Thakt Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Giani Tarlochan Singh, Head Granthi, Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib; Mr Jarnail Singh Aulakh, a member of the SGPC from Anandpur Sahib and Mr Karam Singh, Manger of the Takht here, at a meeting held at the official residence of the jathedar here. The inaugural ceremonies of the tercentenary celebrations were “purely” a government-run show last year. However, the concluding programmes would be entirely managed by the SGPC, as indicated by the statement of Bibi Jagir Kaur today. After finalising the programmes, addressing a joint press conference, Bibi Jagir Kaur and Prof Manjit Singh said the commencement of the concluding ceremonies of the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations would begin after the performance of ‘ardas’ at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib on April 11. Before the “ardas” the bhog ceremony of the “Akhand Path” of Sri Guru Granth Sahib would be held. They said a massive nagar kirtan would start from Gurdwara Patalpuri Sahib at Kiratpur Sahib on April 11 which would culminate at the Takht at Anandpur Sahib. Later on a “Gurmat Parchar Sammellan” would begin in which need for administration of “amrit” and adoption of “Sikh Rehat Maryada” would be emphasised. The sammellan would be held in the main pandal near Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib. A “dhadi darbar” would also be held on April 11. Prof Manjit Singh said a “sarv dharam sammellan” would be held on April 12. In this sammellan, representatives of different faiths from all parts of the world would participate. A “Sikh Istri Sammellan” would also start. On April 12, a Kirtan darbar based on “ragas” and ‘bani’ of Guru Gobind Singh, Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal would also be held. The “Akhand Kirani” jatha would also perform “Rain sabai” kirtan at the Takht. On April 13, five high priests, including Jathedars of Sri Akal Takht, Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, and Bibi Jagir Kaur would deliver separate messages to the ‘sangat’ from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, they added. The political conference of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will be held in the pandal on April 13. Horse riding and gatka
cash prize competitions will be held on April 13 at the
local Charan Ganga stadium competitions and a “kavi
darbar will also be held at the Takht on the concluding
day. |
Pak delegation favours talks AMRITSAR, April 3 — Pakistan intellectuals favour peace between the neighbours and advocate that the “mad arms race” which has aggravated tension in the region, should end. This was the view of the 100-member delegation of the People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy which arrived here today en route to Bangalore to participate in the three-day fifth Indo-Pakistan joint convention starting on April 6. This is the first Pakistan delegation to visit India after the Kargil conflict. Talking to TNS, the leader of the delegation, Khawaja Mohammad Waseem from Peshawar, expressed dismay over the “nuclearisation and militarisation of both nations at the cost of poor people”. He said though both countries lacked basic infrastructure like good schooling, health facilities, electricity and potable water, the leaders were involved in perpetuating the miseries of the people by going in for an arms race. Mr Waseem said India and Pakistan had the highest number of illiterates in the world and a majority of them were women. The scarce resources left with the countries were insufficient to meet the needs of basic education while a large chunk of the gross national product was being spent to fight each other, he said, adding that Pakistan was spending more than 50 per cent of the GDP on defence outlay and was depriving millions of their rightful due to education. He urged both countries to stop the militarisation of the sub continent and work for peace and prosperity in the region. Echoing the sentiments of Mr Waseem, a former chairperson of the National Institute of History and Culture, Islamabad, Dr Zarina Salamat, said the convention was an excellent platform for intellectuals of both countries to share their experiences and provide basic inputs to their respective governments to adopt a conciliatory approach to solve vexed issues. She felt that both countries should “sign a no war pact and their own Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty” without any third party mediation. Mutual trust was important to achieve this, she said. The Pakistan delegation includes political leaders, teachers, writers, artistes and social scientists. A journalist from Lahore, Imtiaz-ul-Haq, said Pakistan’s biggest enemy was its bureaucracy and not India. He said the Army regime in Pakistan should constitute an independent statutory body to handle the election process. Mr Iqbal Dhillon of Rawalpindi, who embraced Islam after the partition, expressed anger for not been given a visa to visit Patiala to meet his relations. Expressing similar sentiments, a majority of the members of the delegation said that by not allowing them to cross over to Amritsar by road, the government was sending wrong signals. They urged the Indian Government to withdraw such restrictions. A former Deputy Advocate-General of Peshawar, Mr Mohammad Khurshid, said the Indian and Pakistan governments should encourage trade between the two countries. He urged the Indian leadership to accept Gen Pervez Musharraf’s offer for talks on all pending issues, including Kashmir. The leader of the
delegation said they would take up various issues for
strengthening relations between the two countries. Cong party poll may be
postponed CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The All-India Congress Committee’s General Secretary, Mr Moti Lal Vora, has not ruled out the possibility of the postponement of the organisational elections of the party scheduled to be held by July this year. Speaking to mediapersons here this morning, Mr Vora said a representation had been made to the chief of the party’s election authority, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, by party’s member of Parliament for postponing the elections. The party MPs had taken a plea that they would be busy in the Lok Sabha session till May 15 and would not be able to spare time for the election in their respective areas. He said the decision pertaining to postponement had to be taken by Mr Mirdha but at present the announced organisational election schedule was being followed. Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who is member of the party’s election authority, said that so far already announced schedule was being followed. Asked about party’s defeat with a big margin in the recently held Nawanshahr byelection, Mr Mirdha said that bungling by the ruling party in this election led to Congress’s defeat. Already, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. President, Capt Amarinder Singh, has submitted a report regarding the byelection and it was being examined. Talking about the decisions taken at the PPCC’s general body’s meeting, Mr Vora said that four resolutions had been passed at the meeting. One pertained to oppose the decision taken by the BJP-led government to review the Constitution. He said that as Parliament represented the entire country, such decisions should have been taken by it after examining all aspects. He said that the BJP would follow the dictates of the RSS as far as reviewing the Constitution was concerned. Already the RSS chief, Mr K.S. Sudarshan, had made a statement that the present Constitution required to be scraped. He said that the Congress was building up public opinion by organising rallies and conferences in all districts in the country to oppose the review of the Constitution. Mr Vora said the Congress would oppose the setting up of Anandgarh, a new town, near Chandigarh and it would also move court if need be. Capt Amarinder Singh, who was also present at the press conference, said the party had taken a stand to oppose the Anandgarh project. He said that 2.5 lakh persons from 58 villages, which are supposed to be acquired to build a new town, would be displaced with the setting up of the new town. “This would not be allowed”, he added. Capt Amarinder Singh said that new town could be built near Anandpur Sahib as was earlier announced by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Capt Amarinder Singh refused to comment on the recent development pertaining to Akal Takht. He said that he had gone to Chatti Singhpora village and all news stories that he did not go there were baseless. He clarified at length that whom he met in the village. He said that in fact the Congress had sent two more teams after his visit to the village where 35 Sikhs were killed recently. One team was led by Dr Manmohan Singh, who offered a help of Rs 10 lakh on behalf of the party for the families of deceased. Another team comprising Mr Partap Singh Bajwa and Mr Harminder Singh Jassi. When asked about the
resignation of Mr Barjinder Singh from Rajya Sabha, Capt
Amarinder Singh said that Mr Badal wanted to make his son
Mr Sukhbir Badal a member of the Upper House. Hence the
resignation of Mr Barjinder Singh. He said he had known
for a long time that Mr Barjinder Singh would resign to
make way for Mr Sukhbir Badal, who had made a request to
the Lok Sabha Speaker for not to cancel the allotment of
earlier house to him as he would be soon returning to
Rajya Sabha as its member. |
Punjab CPI to draw action plan CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The State Executive Committee of the Punjab CPI would meet here on April 17 to draw an action plan for intensifying its struggle for the withdrawal of steep hike in the prices of fertilisers, LPG, kerosene, wheat rice and sugar supplied through the public distribution system. A press note issued by the party said the BJP coalition government at the Centre had put more than Rs 11,000 crore burden on the common people through these hikes. The press note appealed
to all CPI units to come forward and put up strong
resistance to these anti-people and anti-national
policies of government. |
Ex-servicemen need not seek
eligibility again CHANDIGARH, April 3 — Is an ex-serviceman required to obtain separate eligibility certificates from the Union Defence Ministry for submitting applications for a gas agency or petrol pump advertised by oil corporations at different places ? This question arose in a writ petition preferred by Capt S.D. Sharma, questioning the allotment of a gas agency to Mr Rajinder Sidhu at Jagraon township. The eligibility certificate issued to Mr Sidhu by the Defence Ministry was for Amritsar district. Therefore, this certificate was not valid for allotment of gas agency at Jagraon. The contention of the respondents, on the other hand, was that once the Director-General (Resettlement) declared a candidate eligible, there was no requirement that it would be in respect of a particular location only. It was further argued that there was no rule, regulation or policy laid down by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas making any such stipulation. Therefore, the Oil Selection Board had not committed any illegality in appointing Mr Sidhu as a dealer for the gas agency at Jagraon. Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji before whom the case came up for hearing ruled: “Once eligibility of an applicant under the defence category was certified by the Ministry of Defence by issuing certificate to state the category to which the applicant belonged, the applicant was eligible to apply for a gas agency anywhere in the state of Punjab in the category provided he fulfilled all other conditions.” Even though the certificate, issued in favour of the third respondent, also stated that he is being recommended for a particular district, it did not mean that he was to be considered only for that particular district. The Judge further observed that the petitioner was not able to point out any rule, regulation or policy that an ex-serviceman possessing a certificate for a particular district was entitled only for gas agency in that district alone. In the absence of any rule, regulation or policy to that effect, “I am of the view that the board or the corporation did not commit any illegality in considering the case of the third respondent (Mr Sidhu) for the allotment of gas agency at Jagraon on the basis of eligibility certificate issued by the Ministry of Defence.” Order on civic poll result stayed Issuing notice of motion, Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the operation of election tribunal’s order declaring as void Mr Ashok Kumar Behl’s election from ward No 20 of Kapurthala Municipal Council. Claiming to have been “duly elected member of the Kapurthala Municipal Council”, Mr Behl, in his appeal before the High Court, had stated that irreparable loss would be suffered if the “operation of the impugned order was not stayed during pendency”. He had also asked for setting aside of the tribunal’s order dated February 29. Pronouncing the orders on Mr Mohinder Kumar Aggarwal’s petition, the tribunal had earlier observed: “I allow the election petition of Mr Mohinder Kumar Aggarwal and declare the election of Mr Ashok Kumar Behal to be void on the ground that the nomination papers of the petitioner had been improperly rejected by the Returning Officer”. Mr Justice Jhanji
observed in the open court : “Notice of Motion.
Mohinder Kumar Aggarwal, elected petitioner, accepts
notice. Adjourned to April 24, for arguments. Till
further orders, the operation of the impugned order shall
remain stayed”. |
Community policing shows results KAPURTHALA, April 3 — The Kapurthala police has made a bid to resurrect the community policing system in the district. The concept of community policing forms the basis of the Punjab Police Rules. Its implementation has almost been nil, particularly during the decade-long militancy in the State. A number of steps to involve more and more people in the process of curbing crime were being taken by the district police authorities. The scheme was launched about six months back by introducing a time-bound direct interaction programme between police officers and people. The scheme has started paying dividends. The crime rate has gone down and the detection of crime has increased manifold, claimed Mr Iqbal Singh, the Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police. “The SHOs hold once-a-month meetings with panches and sarpanches of their respective areas. DSPs have been directed to meet each representative of people once in three months. The SPs and I have made it a point to meet every panch and sarpanch once in six months,” said Mr Iqbal Singh. But what is considered to be the most ambitious part of the scheme by the police is the formation of committees at the mohalla level in urban areas and re-introduction of the chowkidar system in villages. “We have already formed committees, comprising social workers and eminent citizens, in Kapurthala city, Phagwara and Sultanpur Lodhi,” said Mr Iqbal Singh adding that the objective of these committees would be able to bring policemen and residents closer so that the law and order situation could be improved. Interestingly, with a view to giving a feel of responsibility and respectability to constables, a novel — beat system — has been introduced in rural areas. Each constable has been made in-charge of two to three villages falling under the jurisdiction of the police station of his posting. The constable in-charge would be going to the villages twice or thrice a week for an interaction with people. A cent-per cent response system has been introduced for public complaints. It has been made mandatory for officials in charge of police stations not to summon anybody to the police station for investigation purposes. “Every person, who files any complaint gets response from my office. In addition to this, typist has been deputed in the waiting room of my office, who types out complaints before the complaintant’s meeting with me,” said Mr Iqbal Singh. The drive has started
showing results. Crime rate has fallen and its detection
has increased, particularly in case related to the
offences committed under the NDPs Act, Arms Act and the
Excise Act. If the total number of murders in the
district in 1996 was 30, the same was 16 last year.
Similarly, the kidnapping and abduction cases have come
down from 117 in 1996 to 97 in 1999. Robberies and
burglaries which were 63 in 1996 have come down to 35 in
1999. On the other hand, the cases under the NDPS Act
were 25 but their number swelled to 58 in 1999. The
detection of Arms Act offences has also increased. The
police registered 53 cases in 1999 against 16 cases in
1996. Same was the case with the Excise Act cases, the
number of which rose from 182 in 1996 to a whopping 644
last year, said Mr Iqbal Singh. |
Helping rural youth to be
independent NURPUR BEDI (Ropar): To promote self-employment ventures and trades in nearby villages, the local Social Work and Rural Development Centre, a non-government organisation, has been running two units involved in making shawls and “baan”. Besides, it also runs a vocational training course in tailoring and dress designing for women and girls of the area. Funds amounting to Rs 3.69 lakh have been provided to the centre to run these units by the Welfare Department under the special component plan through the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Ropar. The progress of these training-cum-production centres is also being monitored by the DRDA. In the shawl making unit as many as 25 girls drawn from Scheduled Caste families living below the poverty line from villages in the area namely, Samerowal, Singhpur, Azampur, Jetewal, Saini Majra, Moosapur, Barwa and Nurpur Bedi have been getting training since October 1999. Talking to TNS, Mr Jagtar Singh, Director of the centre, said these girls were being given training to enable them to work independently to earn their livelihood on completion of the six-month course. Most of the trainees were now in a position to set up their own ventures. They had been trained on five handlooms at the centre. The trainees have been producing nearly 80 shawls per month during the training period and these shawls are being sold at rates ranging between Rs 100 and Rs 350. The raw material like pure wool and cashmilon was obtained from Ludhiana. Besides shawls, they also produced blankets and “lohis”. Mr Jagtar Singh said the profit earned out of the sale of the products was being used for administrative and maintenance expenses of the centre. Trainees could also weave shawls, etc after finishing training by bringing their own raw material or could work for the centre on a commission basis. Besides, they could also set up their own venture. Mr Raj Kumar Kapoor, Assistant Project Officer, DRDA, Ropar, told TNS that these trainees after the completion of training in shawl making would be able to get a loan to the tune of Rs 25,000 each for opening a shawl-making unit of their own from commercial as well as gramin banks. The DRDA would provide subsidy of Rs 10,000 to each trainee under the Swaran Jayanti Gram Swairozgar Yojna (SGSY) in place of IRDP which had already been merged with the SGSY. The second unit of the centre —“baan” making — has also been imparting training to about 25 poor men and women belonging to Scheduled Caste families aged between 18 and 35. These trainees are being imparted training on electric driven machines set up at a cost of about Rs 1 lakh. On completing their two-month course, these trainees would also be able to open their own ventures by getting loans from banks. Each trainee was eligible to get loans up to Rs 30,000 from the bank while the DRDA will provide a subsidy of Rs 10,000 in each case. These shawl making and
“baan” making units will train candidates
selected by a committee constituted by the DRDA. These
will prove a source of self-employment in future for
unemployed youths from poor Scheduled Castes families in
this backward area of this district. |
‘Rasta roko’ martyrs’
kin honoured MALERKOTLA, April 3 — Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Chief Minister of Punjab today paid homage to 12 martyrs of the 1983 Rasta Roko movement at Kup Kalan village, 10 km from here. Participating in the shaheedi conference, the Chief Minister said that the Akali and BJP Government will always give preference for the development of martyrs’ village in Punjab. He said that the sacrifices of the Sikhs were unparalleled in the history of the world. Families of the martyrs were honoured by the Chief Minister. Mr Badal announced a
grant of Rs 5 lakh for a co-operative bank in the
village. Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa paid floral
tributes to the martyrs. Mr Nusrat Ali Khan Sports
Minister, Punjab, Mr Ranjit Singh Balian, state Minister,
Punjab, Mr Parkash Chand Garg, Chairman Land Development,
Mr Balbir Singh Ghunas, MLA, Jathedar Joga Singh
Phagowal, Gurbachan Singh Fatehgarh, Rajinder Singh
Khanjla also addressed the gathering. At this occasion Mr
Badal released an audio cassette “Viah Joge”. |
MC announces water supply
timings PATIALA, April 3 — The Patiala Municipal Corporation today announced summer water supply hours and cautioned the public that discoloured water may flow through the pipes in the first few minutes of supply after each shut-down interval. The city will get water
from 5 am to 9:30 am; from noon to 2 pm and from 5 pm to
9:30 pm. Announcing the timings, MC Commissioner K.S.
Kang said that the hours have been fixed on the direction
of the Punjab Local Bodies Principal Secretary. Referring
to the anticipated discolouration, Kang said it could not
be helped. |
PHSC bans drug CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Managing Director of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation has ordered a ban on the use and distribution of “Lingocaine 2 per cent” drug and has asked the firm concerned to send its replacements. A spokesman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation said there were some other complaints against the firm and as a result, the Corporation had stopped all payments to the firm and also forfeited its performance security. He said the Corporation was dealing strictly with the companies indulging in mischief and several orders had been cancelled. The order to ban the
drug follows a test report carried out at Microbiology
Department of the Medical College, Amritsar, where some
sort of “growth” was detected in drug samples
during analysis. |
Westernisation decried AMRITSAR, April 3 — The National Students Samaj Seva Dal has criticised the growing craze among Sikh youth to adopt western values. Mr Mohan Singh Dhanjal, president of the seva dal, said here today that the youth was being tempted to cut their hair which was against the Sikh identity. He expressed concern
over the increasing use of intoxicants and added that
“politics of division” was creating a confused
generation. He said the youth should be persuaded to
adopt their own culture. |
Death mourned CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Punjab Information and Public Relations Officers’ Welfare Association today deeply mourned the death of Mr Harbhajan Singh “Haani”, Assistant Public Relations Officer posted at Amritsar. Mr Harbhajan Singh had died yesterday after a massive heart attack. The association also
observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to the
departed soul. |
Telecom clerk held for taking
bribe JALANDHAR, April 3 — The local Vigilance Bureau has arrested Telecom Department Senior Clerk for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2000 from a woman for restoring her PCO. Ms Gurpreet Deo, the Superintendent of Police Vigilance Bureau, said, the PCO connection in name of Ms Mamta Rani , a resident of Model Town locality, was disconnected for want of renewal of licence. As the renewal of the PCO connection, whcih was being run by her brother Pawan Kumar, was not being done even after completion of all formalities. Pawan Kumar contacted Sant Ram, a Senior Clerk in the Public Relation wing of the office of the General Manager of the Telecom Department. He allegedly promised to get the connection restored if an amount of Rs 10,000 was paid to him. However, the complainant agreed to pay Rs 2000 in advance and the rest in instalments. After receiving the
complaint, a raiding party headed by Mr Pushkar Sandal,
DSP, accompanied the former who handed over the amount to
the accused and caught him in presence of a senior Xen of
the Punjab State Electricity Board, said Ms Deo. She said
the amount was found in the possession of the accused. Ms
Deo said a case has been registered against the accused,
who was arrested from his office here today. |
ASI commits suicide KAPURTHALA, April 3 — Mr Rajeev Sharma (28), Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) with the Punjab Police allegedly committed suicide at his house in the local Mohabat Nagar mohalla yesterday with his service revolver. He was rushed to the local Civil Hospital where he died. The deceased was posted at the Sultanpur Lodhi police station. According to police sources, Sharma took a shot at his head and the bullet pierced through his head. He is survived by his wife and two children. The cause behind taking the extreme step is not known. The police has
registered a case in this connection. |
Girl crushed to death by
truck JALANDHAR, April 3 — A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death while her mother injured seriously when the scooter they were riding rammed into a truck coming from the opposite direction near the HMV chowk here today. The deceased Ravijeet
died on the spot while her mother Amarjit Kaur, who was
riding pillion, was injured seriously. She has been
admitted to the local Civil Hospital, where her condition
was stated to be serious. The incident took place when
the truck driver swiftly turned his vehicle to one side,
the police said. A case has been registered. |
Car stolen LUDHIANA, April 3 — A Matiz car was stolen from the Industrial Area here on April 1. A man posing as a driver approached Mr Mohanlal Duggal, a resident of Gurdev Nagar and asked him to hire him as a driver.Mr Duggal asked the driver to drive him to the factory in the Industrial Area. On reaching the factory,
Mr Duggal went inside and instructed the driver to come
in after parking the car to settle the salary. Mr Duggal
waited for him for 15 minutes when the driver didn’t
show up, he came out to be shocked by the theft of the
car. The police has registered a case. |
All set for GND University exams AMRITSAR, April 3 — All arrangements for the smooth and peaceful conduct of GND university exams have been made, according to Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar of the university. More than 90,000 candidates will appear in various undergraduate and postgraduate and postgraduate regular and private examinations of Guru Nanak Dev University starting from tomorrow. Dr Bawa said that 212 examination centres in the districts of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur and Nawanshahr had been created and more than 2700 teaching and non-teaching staff of the university and the affiliated colleges had been deputed for these. To check copying in these examinations, the principals of the affiliated colleges would act as local controllers. Measures have been taken to deploy police force in the colleges and the university. Senior teachers and non-teaching officers have been assigned the duties of flying squads and observers. Flying squads would stay for three hours in the examination hall and get the answer books sealed in their presence and take the answer book packets with them. In view of complaints
from private candidates, this year both private and
regular students would take exams simultaneously. |
Purchase centres for rabi crops
set up CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Punjab Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, today said that all arrangements had been finalised for the procurement of rabi crop by setting up 1515 purchase centres. After presiding over a
meeting of senior officers of various procurement
agencies, Mr Mittal said arrival of wheat was expected in
mandis between April 8 and April 10. According to
estimates of the Agriculture Department, 142 lakh tonnes
of wheat would be produced in the state. Out of this 90
lakh tonnes of wheat would be marketable surplus as
compared to 79.27 lakh during the last year. This year
wheat would be procured by six agencies, the Food and
Supplies Department, Markfed, Punsup, PSWC, PAIC and the
FCI for the central pool on a minimum support price of Rs
580 per quintal. |
NFL top management
reshuffled NANGAL, April 3 — The top management in the NFL has been reshuffled with the transfers of 20 officers. The General Manager of the local unit has been shifted to Vijaypur. He is being replaced by Mr Narinder Nath Chitkara from Vijaypur. Two AGMs here, Mr Param Parkash and Mr A.K. Gupta, have also transferred. Mr Gupta has been appointed as the General Manager of the Panipat unit whereas Mr Param Parkash has been transferred to Bathinda. The General Managers of the Bathinda and Panipat units have been transferred to the corporate office. Highly placed sources in the corporate office have said that the retirement age of the employees in the NFL may also be reverted to 58 years. A decision regarding this is likely to be taken at the next board meeting of the NFL in April, 2000. The step is being taken following the Cabinet committee’s decision to offer the voluntary retirement scheme in all public sector units, to reduce excessive manpower. In accordance with the decision, the NFL management had presented their case to implement the voluntary retirement scheme to the Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilisers. The NFL management has
been asked to revert the retirement age to 58 years
before the implementation of this scheme. This is being
done to deny the benefit of the voluntary retirement
scheme to those employees who have got two year’s
extension due to the enhancement in the retirement age.
With this reversal in the retirement age, more than 1,000
employees in all units of NFL will be forced to retire
with immediate effect. About 400 employees in the local
units of the NFL will also have to retire immediately.
Many top officials of the NFL, including the CMD of the
company, Mr Dinesh Singh, will also have to retire after
this decision is implemented. |
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