 |
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| Tuesday, April 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
CM
favours ‘model’ mental hospital Cong
against shifting mental hospital ‘Punjab
bachao’ rally on May 1 PAC
expresses faith in Badal Human
trade racket unearthed
Shiv
Sena threatens agitation
500
solar tubewells for rural areas |
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| Pet cards’ craze in Jalandhar JALANDHAR: Teddy bears have been the most reliable friends of lonely young hearts the world over. But now this most dreamt of creature is no more the lone companion of countless love-lorn guys and gals. Senior engineers to take
part in march Drive
soon to improve civic amenities 4
Improvement Trust chiefs named Governor
honours printers Registration
work computerised Rotary
Clubs on Internet Pension
demanded
Licences
of 30 agents suspended Sale
of DC’s office to PUDA recommended Tehsil
office goes hi-tech
Smuggler’s
death case takes new turn Cheat
with foreign links held Lambardar’s
body found in river 14-year-old
raped
AIFUCTO
seminar concludes Engg
college stone laid
Move
to boost cotton production 2.72
cr released for sugarcane growers
|
CM favours
‘model’ mental hospital CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today said that a mental healthcare policy should be framed. He was holding a meeting here with experts on ways and means to revamp Vidya Sagar Mental Hospital, Amritsar. A press note, while delineating on the hospital’s future, said the meeting sought to put at rest all apprehensions arising out of inadequate knowledge and lack of corrective perspective on shifting it and selling its surplus land. Those who attended the meeting were Dr P. Kulhara, Head, Department of Psychiatry, PGI, Dr Jaswant Singh Neki, a former Director, PGI, Dr Gurmet Singh, former DRME, Punjab, and Principal, Medical College Patiala; Dr Shridhar Sharma; Dr N.S. Wig; Dr Ajit Awasthi; Dr Rajinder Singh, Dr V.K. Khurana and Dr R.N. Sharma. The Chief Minister suggested a “model” mental hospital with non-governmental expert professional management. It was suggested that part of the surplus land of the hospital should be auctioned and the funds, thus raised, should be kept exclusively at the disposal of the hospital in the form of a corpus fund to finance its upgradation as well as to cater to day-to-day requirements of medicines, equipment and other inputs. Other suggestions pertained to considering the shifting of the hospital, generating about Rs 150 crore through the auction, building a highly sophisticated superspeciality hospital at a cost of approximately Rs 50 crore and converting the balance Rs 100 crore into an exclusive corpus fund which should generate a monthly income of Rs 1 crore for running the mental hospital. However, the site for the new hospital, in case this suggestion was to be accepted, should be near a city on a main road. Another significant
suggestion was that Amritsar’s mental hospital
should be preserved as a Chronic Mental Health Care
Centre, but downsized to an efficiently manageable level.
Instead of concentrating all mental care facilities only
at Amritsar, at least four new 100-bedded mental care
hospitals should be constructed as attachment to the
existing medical colleges in the state. |
Cong against shifting mental
hospital AMRITSAR, April 24 — Mrs Ratna, general secretary of the Punjab Congress committee has said in a press statement that the party would oppose the Punjab government decision to shift the Vidya Sagar Memorial Mental Hospital, Amritsar, to some other place. In a press note released here today, Mrs Ratna alleged that the decision of the Badal Government did not emanate from its genuine desire to improve the lot of this mental health institute but was meant to help “certain persons” make petty financial gains out of the miseries of more than 400 patients. Mrs Ratna said the Punjab Government had no right to take such a decision as the hospital was being supported financially by five states in the region. She added that the problems of the institute did not arise merely from the shortage of funds but from total mismanagement, neglect and policies of adhocism being followed by the Punjab Health Department. “There is no regular Medical Superintendent in the hospital for more than a year and a general physician is looking after the administration”, she alleged. “If the government
is unable to manage the hospital then it should hand it
over to the Central government and run it as
regional/national institute on the lines of Nimhans,
Bangalore” she added. |
‘Punjab bachao’ rally on
May 1 LUDHIANA, April 24 — Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, General Secretary of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, has said that the Punjab Bachao protest rally to begin on May 1 from Rakhra village would turn into a mass movement against corrupt practices of the ruling group. The SHSAD member of parliament was talking to mediapersons on his visit to the city here today. He informed that the rally would be led by the SHSAD President, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and former Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mr Ravi Inder Singh would participate. Mr Chandumajra alleged that a lot of money was being amassed by certain corrupt people in the ruling party, “in spite of having the full-fledged Public Works Department and the Mandi Karan Board, the contract for constructing roads was being given to foreign-based companies, who often bribe those in charge of giving contracts.” He said, while refraining from taking any names that the procurement of wheat from the various grain markets was not picking up. Mr Chandumajra said that the government agencies neither had the requisite number of gunny bags nor empty godowns for the storage of wheat. “thus, the farmers are being forced to sell their crop at lower rates to the traders,” he said. About the Anandgarh
project, the SHSAD leader said that the project was a
part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to finish off
Punjab’s claim for Chandigarh. He also alleged that
the city was being set up to benefit a few of the chief
minister’s relatives and certain high officials who
had bought land at the proposed site. |
PAC expresses faith in Badal CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) again expressed its faith and confidence in the leadership of the SAD President and the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. In a resolution passed at a meeting here today, the PAC eulogised Mr Badal and recalled that some of the major projects had been initiated by the SAD-BJP government. Mr Badal was termed as a “symbol” of peace, progress, amity and Punjabi unity. Describing the financial crisis as a “global” phenomenon, the resolution said despite many difficulties, the pace of development in the state had quickened due to policies pursued by the government. While the resolution talked about “exposing shameful scandals and scams” involving public figures and ending the bitterness being spread by the Congress, it made no mention of the institution of Lok Pal. The resolution made a veiled attack on “politically frustrated” elements under the guise of the “Panth”, who had connived with the Congress to divert people’s attention from development and create “social unrest and instability despite being rejected by the people”. The resolution cautioned people to beware of such elements. Another resolution referred to the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa and the manner in which Anandpur Sahib was “reinvented”. It again mentioned the same elements,” who had threatened to cause “bloodshed” and condemned them for their disruptive activities. The meeting paid tributes to Mr J.S Sandhu, chairman Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board, who died recently in a road accident. Condolences were also conveyed to Bibi Jagir Kaur on the death of her daughter, Harpreet Kaur. It was the first meeting of the reconstituted PAC after the exit of Mr Tohra and Mr Ravi Inder Singh. Talking to reporters after the three-hour meeting, Mr Badal dismissed reports about any threat to his government from rebels and dissidents. “We are not worried”, he added. Prominent among those
present was Mr Surjit Singh Barnala. |
Human trade racket unearthed GURDASPUR, April 24 (UNI) — The police today claimed to have unearthed a gang engaged in human trade on the pretext of exporting manpower. Senior Superintendent of Police Varinder Kumar said gang leader Sucha Singh was arrested from Kapurthala and raids were being conducted to catch his absconding accomplices in human trade. Balwinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, youths from this border district town who were allegedly sold by Sucha Singh to foreign gangs, were still languishing in a Hungary jail, the SSP said. The accused had charged from them Rs 3.10 lakh each for sending them to Germany but had instead sent them to Hungary on a tourist visa. But the two were arrested after the expiry of their visas and unearthing of the foreign gang by the Hungarian police. The SSP said relatives of Balwinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh lodged a complaint with the police on November 4, last year. The complainants told police that they had paid Rs 3 lakh to the accused with the promise that the remaining money would be paid after their sons were flown abroad. A month later the parents were misinformed that their sons had reached Germany and they paid the remaining Rs 3.20 lakh to one Inderjit Singh. But to their shock, the parents received a phone call from Sucha Singh from Moscow for the payment of the remaining money. When the complainants told Inderjit Singh about Sucha Singh’s demand, Inderjit started avoiding them. Sucha Singh again rang up the boys’ parents demanding the money, failing which he threatened to get them arrested abroad. Their pleas to Sucha Singh that they had already paid the balance amount to Inderjit fell on deaf ears. Again to their utter shock, they started receiving phone calls from foreign captors of their sons who were made to shriek on telephones to scare their parents for the payment. The foreign captors demanded $ 3000 each for the release of the boys, according to the complainants. The desperate fathers said they then learnt that Delhi-based Harminder Singh could help them get their sons back as he managed to get his relatives released abroad from the custody of the foreign captors by paying them $ 3000. But they said when they contacted Harminder Singh, he demanded $ 4000 each for the release of their sons. Meanwhile, the Hungary police caught their sons from a hideout and sent them to jail, the complainants said. The SSP said Kanjli
(Kapurthala) — born Sucha Singh, who was an
illiterate, had become quite an expert in his trade
because of his frequent foreign visits. |
Shiv Sena threatens agitation AMRITSAR, April 24 — Even as a meeting between the Railways of India and Pakistan would be held in Pakistan on April 26 to discuss various proposals for smooth running of the Samjauta Express, the All India Shiv Sena has served an ultimatum to stop the train by May 15, failing which the Sena would launch an agitation and remove fish-plates at Attari railway station. According to official sources, the proposed meeting would be held at Wagha joint check post (on the Pakistan side). Earlier, the meeting was held on April 14 at Wagha (on the Indian side) where Indian Railways had agreed to run the Samjhauta Express on Indian rakes up to Wagha railways station covering the 3-km leg of journey. The Indian team would be headed by Mr M.N. Chopra, executive director (coaching) while Pakistani delegation would be headed by Mr Aurangzeb Khan. On the other hand, Shiv
Sena leaders held a strong protest at Wagha and Attari.
Shiv Sena leader Mr Ashok Daura, general secretary All
India Shiv Sena and Mr Subhash Kumar led the protesters. |
500 solar tubewells for rural
areas BATHINDA, April 24 — To promote the use of source of non-conventional energy among people in the rural areas, the Punjab government has decided to give 500 solar tubewell connections to the farmers. Each connection costs Rs 35,000. Officials sources said that only those farmers would be eligible for getting the solar tubewell connection who owned five acres of agriculture land. The applications from the interested farmers would be invited by the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) shortly. Against the total cost of Rs 4.65 lakh per tubewell connection, the farmer would have to pay Rs 35,000 only while the Punjab government would give Rs 60,000 per connection to PEDA and the rest of the amount would be contributed by the Central government. Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Science and Technology Minister, Punjab, while talking to TNS said that these tubewells would work in deep as well as shallow earth. He added that farmers could also run two lights on such tubewell. The solar system fitted with the tubewell would produce 1800 w of electricity. Mr Garg said that tender for fetching the solar tubewells had been floated and reputed companies had come forward to provide the same to PEDA. The tubewell would run on a 2 HP motor. PEDA had also decided to give solar lights, cookers and geysers to the people on subsidy so that people could shift to non-conventional sources of energy in the shortest period. Mr Garg said that PEDA had also drawn up a comprehensive plan to clean up the village ponds by the use of certain chemicals. He added that village pond would be divided into two parts by raising a wall in the middle of it. On the side the dirty water would be collected, while on the other the clean water would be collected. One part of the pond would be then used for fish farming. He added that talks in this regard were going on with Rural Development Department of the Punjab government. He added PEDA had also
arranged the chemicals to convert the garbage in rural
into fertilisers. He said that a piece of land had been
taken on lease at Ludhiana where a plant to convert cow
dung into fertiliser would be set up by PEDA in
association with the local municipal corporation. |
Pet cards’ craze in
Jalandhar JALANDHAR: Teddy bears have been the most reliable friends of lonely young hearts the world over. But now this most dreamt of creature is no more the lone companion of countless love-lorn guys and gals. The stuffed animal with fluffy looks faces a tough challenge from other animals straight from the wild — at least during an exchange of pleasantries. These animals — from naughty kittens to lazy dogs — have started making their presence felt, thanks to the efforts of a number of gift and greeting card companies which have stepped out beyond the typical “teddy bear mania” and have instead started cashing in on innocent youngsters’ natural love for pets and other animals. The result — today’s market is flooded with gift presentations aimed at the young lot, particularly greeting cards which are tailor-made to suit almost every occasion and to convey one’s feelings in a potent manner — even if one is shy to express these directly to “someone special”. All he or she has to do now is to select the “right animal with the right message” and send it to the address and wait for the “desired” response from the other end. And don’t mind if it does not come at all — try again — as there is an array of them to carry one’s feelings in one way or the other. Interestingly most such cards, which have started flooding the market in the past two months, are that of the “missing you” kind. Imagine a lovely but disheartened panda lying flat on a wooden platform, fully immersed in memories of its long lost partner saying: “When we’re apart I use every bit of my energy just missing you — come back soon”, or one of the two playful tiger cubs growling in its companions’ ears: “Friend! There is nothing like doing nothing with you. So be glad... we’re friends.” Then cast your glance at a sad and weeping Dalmatian with a message: “I miss you”. Its own peculiar black spots shed by it in memory of the good old days spent with one of its friends. And the funniest among them all is the one depicting a doe-eyed Dalmatian having run off from its home to convey the message of its master to the latter’s girl friend, who has been posing tough for quite some time, by carrying a placard around its neck begging love for him with the words: “Love me, love my master”, by just standing at its hind legs on “her” doorsteps. On the other hand, the owner does his bit by pestering his animal loving the beloved by trying to explain the “rowdy conduct” of his pet in this way: “Your love for animals is legendary. No wonder my pet has run off in search of you... I am a humble part of your animal kingdom too”. And still if this does not suit your requirement. Pick up a brown lazy boxer with frowns all over its face, probably created by its “long separation” from its partner. And this becomes clear when one reads the message. “It would do my heart so much good to see you right now — I miss you. I know that it won’t be forever.” The same is the tragedy of an otherwise play full and fluffy golden-brown kitten saying: “Miss you, it’s just no fun without you”. Then there is a forgetful and shy pup. Having committed the blunder of forgetting the birthday of its friend it makes an effort to muster courage and to explain its side of the thing, “I forgot your birthday, but I can never forget you”. Another small cocker-spaniel is seen kissing its pal and murmuring: “Darling, I love all the moments we share, especially, our quiet ones..”, into her ears. A small kid lying motionless over lush green grass expresses his satisfaction and tender feelings towards his pup, having a nap lying over his legs, by saying.” It’s great having a friend like you to really relax and unwind with.” And it is not a canine affair all along. There are rats and chimpanzees too. An agile zebra with a fully blossomed rose in his mouth is seen courting his friend in a sheepish way, which is clear from the message: “I am sticking out my neck out and asking you to be mine..please”? These cards which have
started flooding the market during the past two months
are fast becoming a craze among teenagers. They
don’t mind paying anything between Rs 10 and Rs 40
for these, especially for the “missing you”
series, says Gurdip Singh, a Model Town gift shop owner.
Similarly, Ms Harpreet Kaur, another card shop owner,
observes that cards and posters with animals are hot
favourites among the young as well as the old. Imagine, a
company launching a card for grandparents in which a
hairy dog expresses its feelings with a message “for
a very special grandson”. |
Senior engineers to take part
in march CHANDIGARH, April 24 — Senior engineers of the Punjab Public Works Department (B and R) have decided to take part in a protest march and rally to be held here on April 26 under the banner of the Coordination Committee of the Sub-Divisional Engineers and Junior Engineers of PWD (B and R) to highlight alleged misdeeds of the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB). Mr M.S. Nagi, general secretary of the Punjab PWD (B and R) Senior Engineers Forum, which has chief engineers, superintending engineers and executive, engineers as its members, said here today that the decision was taken at a meeting of the executive of the forum. Mr Nagi said while there
was not enough work with the PWD (B and R), the
government had set up a parallel agency in the form of
the PIDB to hand over major projects to it. |
Drive soon to improve civic
amenities HOSHIARPUR, April 24 — To improve the working conditions of drinking water, sanitation, sewerage and roads here, a special meeting of the Municipal Councillors was held here yesterday. Mr Tikshan Sud, State Minister for Excise and Taxation, Punjab, stressed to constitute mohalla committees for getting the sanitation work done on contract basis. Half of the salary of a safai sewak would be given by the council and half by the committee. Mrs Mohinder Kaur, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, emphasised the need for immediate disposal of heaps of garbage lying in various localities of the city. She said the improvement in sanitation, water supply and sewerage conditions was urgently required. She also pleaded for providing civic amenities in the new colonies. She suggested to impose a ban on the use of polythene bags in the city. Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, said to remove encroachment from municipal lands special campaign would soon be started. To beautify the Mall Road from DAV College to Dhobi Ghat work was being carried cut on war footing. Keeping in view the heavy traffic load, Mall Road was being widened. He said the Municipal Councillors should consider the merits and demerits of giving octroi and sanitary work on contract basis before finalising this issue. Mr Varinder Singh Bajwa,
President district unit of SAD, Mr Hans Raj Nakra, BJP
President of the district, Mr G. Ramesh Kumar Additional
Deputy Commissioner (General), Mr D.D. Tarnech,
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr
Paramjit, SDM and Mr Bhupinder Singh, Assistant
Commissioner (Grievances) also participated. |
Governor honours printers LUDHIANA, April 24 — The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Vishnu Kant Sharma, has called upon people to work with a spirit of competition to attain excellent results. He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the award-giving function of the Offset Printers Association here yesterday. He appreciated the winners and said honouring such people ensured that others in the field got inspired from them and strove hard to reach their goals. Later, he presented the Print Personality of the Year Award to Mr K.S. Balaram from Chennai, Outstanding Achievement Award to Mr Pranav Parikh and Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Viren Chhabra. The awardees had earlier been nominated by an 11-member jury constituted by the Awards Committee of the association. Among the others who
spoke on the occasion were Mr D.K. Roy, president of the
All-India Federation of Master Printers, Mr Vijay Chopra
of the Hind Samachar Group, Mr Kamal Chopra and Mr Raj
Thapar of the Offset Printers Association. |
4 Improvement Trust chiefs named PHAGWARA, April 24 (UNI) — The Punjab Government today appointed chairmen of four Improvement Trusts of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala and Phagwara respectively. A notification of appointment for a period of two years with immediate effect was issued today and received here this evening. The notification said Mr Bakshi Ram Arora was appointed chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust, while Mr Madan Mohan Vyas was nominated head in Ludhiana. Mr Om Parkash Behal and Mr Om Parkash Gupta have been appointed chairmen of Kapurthala and Phagwara trusts respectively, according to the notification. BJP sources said all
four appointees belong to the party. |
Registration work computerised ROPAR, April 24 — Computerisation of registration work relating to sale and purchase of property through the Revenue Department was inaugurated by Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Minister for Printing and Stationery and Youth Services, Punjab, at the Sub Registrar Office here today. Mrs Sandhu said with the computerisation the public would get registries of property on the spot through a single window service. The photographs of sellers, buyers and witnesses would be taken and stored in the computer through the camera. This would also help in avoiding frauds in identifications, she added.Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, Deputy Commissioner, said computerisation of registry relating to property would also be done soon in the five sub-tehsils of the district. Sub Registrar Offices in Kharar, Anandpur Sahib and SAS Nagar had also been computerised from today, he added. On this occasion Mr
Khushi Ram, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amarjit
Singh Shahi, SDM and Mr Udham Singh, Tehsildar, Ropar
were also present. |
Rotary Clubs on Internet PHILLAUR, April 24 — International Rotary Clubs will soon be available on Internet and Rotarians will work for the creation of social awareness and practical social work. This message was delivered by Rotarian Y.P. Dass, past Governor, while addressing the Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS) at Goraya yesterday. Sixtyone Rotary Clubs participated in the seminar. He appealed to Rotarians
to remain firm on commitments. He reiterated the Rotary
Club’s commitment to make the world polio free by
the end of this year. Punjab and Haryana High Court
Justice Narinder Sood, past Governors Surinder Seth, Hira
Arora, J.K. Luthra, Raman Aggarwal, Suresh Vijj, Ashwini
Mahindra and Dr Sethi besides seminar Chairman Mohan
Singh Sachedeva also addressed the seminar of Rotary
District 3070. |
Pension demanded AMRITSAR, April 24 — Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, BJP MLA, sought the state government’s attention to the non availability of pensions. She said 75 per cent of old persons’ widows and handicapped had not received pensions since April 1 last year. She said there were
thousands of cases where pensions had not been released
for the last two to three years. Assurances were made in
the Assembly session but no concrete steps were visible
afterwards, she added. |
Licences of 30 agents suspended FARIDKOT, April 24 — The licences of more than 30 commission agents of Faridkot, Bathinda, Muktsar and Moga districts have been suspended by the district administration and Food and Supplies Department for alleged malpractices during the procurement of wheat in the last 72 hours. Mr A. Venu Parsad, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, has suspended the licences of 13 commission agents for filling uncleaned and less than the prescribed weight of wheat in gunny bags. All these commission agents were ‘found’ committing such malpractices when Mr Parsad along with the district Food and Supplies Controller, Mr Amin Chand, conducted a surprise check at purchase centres. Mr Parsad had also issued show-cause notice to 12 commission agents for violating the norms laid down for wheat procurement in the current season. Mr Joginder Singh Khalon, District Food and Supplies Controller, Bathinda, said he had suspended the licences of seven commission agents belonging to Jethuke, Malooka, Bhagta Bhaika Nathana, Mandi Kalan and Jeeda purchase centres. He added that these commission agents were found filling wheat with high moisture contents into the bags. Mr B.S. Sudan, Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar, has also suspended the foodgrain licences of five commission agents of the district for allegedly procurement agencies and farmers. He said he had formed different teams comprising senior officials to make random and surprise checks at all wheat purchase centres. The Food and Supplies
Department has also suspended the licences of six
commission agents of Moga district on account of various
malpractices in the procurement of wheat. |
Sale of DC’s office to
PUDA recommended PATIALA, April 24 — The District Administration has recommended the sale of the present Deputy Commissioner’s office to the Punjab Urban Development Authority under the optimum land-use police of the State Government. Revealing this to newspersons here today, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, said the present office of the district administration had immense potential for being commercially exploited. He said he had recommended to the Government to sell this property and constructing a Mini-Secretariat at a convenient place so that government offices of the district could be housed in one place. The Deputy Commissioner said the present office had all offices crammed up in limited space, due to which the public and government staff faced difficulty. He added that there was less parking space available in the complex and outside, due to which traffic jams occurred frequently. If this proposal of the
District Administration comes through, the city will
follow the trend of having all administrative offices at
one place. The scattered location of government offices
causes problems to residents. According to Mr Avtar Singh
Brar, President of the Patiala Colonies Federation, if
such a proposal is pursued in letter and spirit, problems
of residents will be mitigated to a large extent. There
was a proposal to shift the District
Administration’s office to the Improvement Trust
land near Patiala Nadi in the 1980s. Due to paucity of
funds, the scheme failed. |
Tehsil office goes hi-tech PATIALA, April 24 — The registration of property wills and other documents in the Patiala tehsil went hi-tech with full computerisation today. Issuing the first computerised registry of a land deal, Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir told reporters that the computerisation would bring transparency in the tehsil work and put an end to incidence of corruption. Mr Bir said in a trial, stamp duty collection increased by 55 per cent in the last month due to maintenance of records of disputed property in computers. He said though computerisation of tehsils was taking place in the whole state, Patiala tehsil had gone a step ahead by feeding the list of disputed properties in the computer so that cross-selling of property or any such illegal activity could be checked at the outset. The properties of the government, shamlat land and NRI land would be enlisted in the computer with the respective khasra numbers. The Deputy Commissioner
also revealed that the price list of property in
specially divided 27 blocks of the tehsil has also been
fed to check evasion of stamp duty. He hoped that the
revenue earned from property deals would increase
manifold with this move. Samana subdivision would be
fully computerised next week, making all the divisions
computerised in the district. |
Smuggler’s death case takes
new turn BATHINDA, April 24 — The mystery shrouding the death of Raj Singh, a narcotics smuggler, who died in the civil hospital yesterday within minutes of being shifted from the Central Jail, has deepened further. The case took a new turn as doctors suspected that he had died due to poisoning. According to official sources Raj Singh, who was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh in a smuggling of narcotics case by the district courts on Saturday, was shifted to civil hospital here by the Central Jail authorities after he complained of loose motions and vomiting. Raj Singh died within 20 minutes of reaching the hospital and doctors attending him could not provide him full treatment. Mr B.S. Gill, Superintendent Jail, had denied yesterday that Raj Singh had committed suicide. He claimed that Raj Singh had complained of loose motions and vomiting and was shifted to civil hospital immediately. Civil hospital sources, however, stated that during the post-mortem, a peculiar smell was found to be emanating from the body, an indication of poisoning. Hospital sources revealed that in certain cases of death due to poisoning such a smell was noticed. Dr H.S. Dhillon, Assistant Civil Surgeon, said viscera of the deceased had been sent for chemical examination at Faridkot and Patiala. He added that post-mortem was conducted by a panel of four doctors, including Dr Kaushal, Dr Bharat, Dr Pawan Bansal and Dr H.L. Garg. He said liquid glucose was administered to Raj Singh but he collapsed before he could get full treatment. Ms K.P. Brar, who had held a magisterial probe into the death of Raj Singh said she had submitted her report to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jaspal Singh. She, however, refused to divulge the findings of her report. Mr Gill, Superintendent
Jail, when contacted today claimed that doctors’
diagnosis was wrong. He added that only the chemical
examination report of viscera would clear up things. |
Cheat with foreign links held GURDASPUR, April 24 — The police has arrested a cheat having contacts with a foreign-based gang who allured innocent people lucrative jobs abroad. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP in a press note issued here today said that the gang member would take a huge sum of money for sending people abroad. The police today arrested Sucha Singh, a resident of Kanjali in Kapurthala district who operated in Germany. He had taken Rs 5 lakh from Joginder Singh and Gurbachan Singh of Gurdaspur for sending their sons Kulwinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, respectively, abroad. His accomplice Inderjit Singh, a resident of Nangal Farid in Hoshiarpur district is still at large. Mr Varinder Kumar said the boys were sold to the foreign gang because their parents did not promptly respond to the calls of Sucha Singh. Mr Varinder Kumar said that the police received a complaint from Joginder Singh and Gurbachan Singh of Gurdaspur that in the month of November 1998, Inderjit Singh took Rs 3 lakh from them for sending their sons Balwinder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh abroad. The accused took their passport for getting them visa. On December 1, 1998, Inderjit phoned them to bring their sons to Krishna Lounge, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi, so that they could be sent abroad. When they reached at the said place he told them that the flight is slightly late and their wards will have to wait for another four days and also demanded the balance of Rs 3.20 lakh from them. The complainants promised to pay them the said amount at the earliest. Inderjit Singh sent these boys along with Sucha Singh to Germany and phoned the complainants to pay the said balance amount later. Inderjit Singh came to a meat shop in Pahar Ganj and took Rs 3.20 lakh from them. After a few days, the complainants received a telephone call from Sucha Singh from abroad that their sons were with him in Moscow and they should send the remaining amount of Rs 3.20 lakh to his wife at Kapurthala. The complainants informed Inderjit Singh of the telephone call of Sucha Singh from Moscow but Inderjit Singh was indifferent to the complainants. Sucha Singh in his call had also threatened the complainants that he will get their sons arrested by the foreign police if they did not respond to his call positively and immediately. Meanwhile, the complainants came to know that Sucha Singh had sold their sons to a foreign gang whose members gave telephone calls to the complainants and started demanding a huge ransom. To pressurise them they used to give severe beatings to their sons and made the complainants hear the cries of their sons on telephone. They demanded $ 3000 (American) per boy for their release. The complainants came to know about Harminder Singh, a resident of Delhi who had links with the foreign gang. The complainants contacted Harminder Singh in this regard who got one of the boys released after paying $ 3000. For the release of second boy in captivity Harminder Singh demanded $ 4000. As good luck would have it, the foreign police came to know the activities of the gang and raided their hideout and got the boy released. The boys are at present lodged in a jail in Hungary. A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC was registered in local police station on November 4, 1999 and the case was entrusted to the CIA staff here, who after a great chase managed to arrest Sucha Singh. Sucha Singh during his
preliminary interrogation disclosed that they used to
take Indian boys to Czech Republic against the tourist
visa. |
Lambardar’s body found in
river PHILLAUR, April 24 — The body of Lambardar Malkiat Singh of Nangal Jattan village was found from the Sutlej near Kandiana village yesterday. According to the police, Malkiat Singh had been missing for the past few days. He had gone to Raud village to recover Rs 60,000 from Balbir Singh, Gurdev Singh and Gurnam Singh. A case has been
registered under Section 302, IPC, against the three
brothers on a complaint of Mohan Singh, the deceased
man’s brother. The body has been sent to the Civil
Hospital for a post-mortem examination, the police added. |
14-year-old raped AMRITSAR, April 24 — A 14-year-old daughter of a handicapped person was allegedly raped by a resident of Batala Road. The parents of the girl have lodged a complaint with Vijay Nagar police station yesterday evening. The police has
registered an FIR under Sections 376, 342, 506, 120-B of
the IPC against main suspects Deepak Kumar, alias Goldi,
and three others — Rakesh Kumar, Rajiv Kumar and
Harinder Singh. |
AIFUCTO seminar concludes AMRITSAR, April 24 — The two-day national seminar of AIFUCTO on the role and some major resolutions challenges of higher education concluded here today on the DAV college campus and were adopted at a meeting of the national executive committee (NEC) of the AIFUCTO held later. The NEC opposed the privatisation and commercialisation of education and decided to organise satyagrahas against the negative policies of the Centre and state governments. The national executive committee expressed concern at the unjust attitude of the Punjab Government and stated that adequate funds for education sector were not available, UGC notification of December 24, 1998, had not been adopted fully and the problem of the non-government colleges still existed. The issue of bringing all colleges and posts under the grant-in-aid scheme and implementation of the pension and gratuity scheme had not been resolved. In another resolution the NEC advocated the urgency of meeting the national commitment of allocating six per cent of GNP for the education in the current Budget session. The NEC demanded that
the private university Bill should be withdrawn. They
also demanded that free and compulsory education up to
the age of 14 years should be made fundamental right of
citizens. |
Engg college stone laid KAPURTHALA, April 24 — The Sarv Hitkari Educational Society, New Delhi, will establish an engineering and management college on 25 acres near Nanakpur village on the Kapurthala-Goindwal Sahib road at a cost of Rs 25 crore. Dr Upinderjit Kaur,
Housing and Urban Development Minister, Punjab, laid the
foundation stone of the new college at a function
organised yesterday. |
Move to boost cotton production LUDHIANA, April 24 — A multi-pronged strategy to boost cotton crop in the state is being mooted. This was stated by Dr G.S. Kalkat, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University, during a joint meeting with the university scientists and cotton growers of the state here today. The production of cotton had fallen from 24.54 lakh bales in 1989 to mere 7.50 lakh bales in 1998. It was also suggested that the sowing of American cotton should be completed by May 15 and the varieties resistant to cotton leaf curl virus should be grown. Dr Kalkat assured the farmers that he would request the irrigation authorities to release canal water in cotton growing areas so that they could complete sowing before May 15 and advised the farmers that they should not grow American cotton near the orchards. Dr Gulzar Singh Chahal, senior cotton breeder, informed that dry weather, dry air and cool nights were the ideal conditions for cotton cultivation. He said that the major reasons for decline in cotton production were the water logging, bad weather, attack of American bollworm and cotton leaf curl virus. Dr Joginder Singh plant protection expert advised the farmers against spraying the mixture of insecticides as it produced resistance among insects. Dr M.S. Bajwa, Director of research advised the farmers to take quick decision about spraying the crop according to the recommendations of PAU scientists. Prominent persons and
experts present on the occasion included Mr Mehar Singh,
Mr Raj Babbar (Fazilka), Dr S.P.S. Brar, Dr S.S. Sokhi,
Dr S.S. Gill, Dr Arjun Singh Chandi, Joint Director and
Dr Ajmer Singh, Deputy Director Agriculture. |
2.72 cr released for
sugarcane growers CHANDIGARH, April 24
— The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal,
today ordered immediate release of Rs 2.72 crore for
making outstanding payments to sugarcane growers in lieu
of sugarcane delivered by them to Ms Northland Sugar
Mill, Dasuya in Hoshiarpur. |
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