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| Wednesday, May 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
IB cautions against RSS activities Sikh library books with CBI:
Fernandes SAD ‘ignoring’ Punjabis
Border MLAs to meet Advani on May
26 Gurdwara panel urged to reject
petition |
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Boy’s body exhumed for
compensation Jawan killed in landmine accident
Hooch case: medical camp organised Rice mills’ issue left to
Markfed Board of Directors
Jailed for accusing father of rape 3 held for attack on farmer Fake cassettes sell like hot cakes Headmaster booked ASI’s wife alleges harassment Two ‘jebkatris’ arrested
Most schools sans sports teachers Additional seats for NRI
candidates Plan to revive Urdu in Punjab BJP MLA seeks Sanskrit university
|
From the farm front CHANDIGARH, May 23 — While it is essential to maintain the current level of foodgrain production, the main thrust must remain focused on research and modern technology for sustainable agriculture. Unless this happens, Punjab would lag behind. This word of caution comes from the Vice-Chancellor, Dr G.S. Kalkat, of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. What is now invisible will make its impact felt after five to six years. Corrective measures have to begin now, says the farm expert. Dr Kalkat, who has been adjudged the best "International Student" by US based Ohio University for 1999, has opened a new chapter for promising PAU scientists and research workers. Because of him Ohio has agreed to take in half a dozen postgraduates from PAU in specific programmes for 12 to 15 months’ training. Talking to TNS at the PAU camp office here on Monday, Dr Kalkat said that "those shortlisted will concentrate on using biotechnology or genetic engineering in cotton, genetic plant transformation in maize (so that it becomes resistant to water), and soil and plant residue management techniques." The ones selected for these specific research-cum-training programmes will go to Ohio, where Dr Desh Pal Verma, Professor of Biotechnology, will take them under his wings and assign them to various experts. Dr Kalkat stated all this became possible when a high - level team of eight professors from Ohio had visited PAU in December last. To cap this new system, the Punjab Government has assured financial assistance. Those selected to proceed to the USA by August-end will get US $ 1,200 per month, besides PAU paying the airfare. Salary to the families of the research workers back home will continue to be paid. An agreement bond will be signed by the selected candidates to return and serve PAU. Though PAU has introduced biotechnology or generic engineering, as it is called, it is still in search of qualified and trained staff to take up research and teaching. Punjab today needs a major investment in research to sustain production by producing disease- resistant cotton species which will in return reduce the cost of plant protection chemicals. These have become a major source of pollution and a health-hazard. A case in point is cotton, where the breeding programme has received a setback. Cotton varieties have to be resistant to pests. Dr Kalkat identified three major areas which would command full attention for sustainable agriculture as well as ensure economic succour to small and marginal farmers, commonly referred to as "cultivators" or "owner-cultivators". They plough up to one hectare. (Of the total 11 lakh cultivators the State has, nearly 26 per cent are the ones having up to one hectare holding, 70 per cent up to three hectares and the rest own up to two hectares.) Ownership farming families number around 19 lakh. " It is this segment of farmers (26 per cent) whose interests have to be watched", the V.C. emphasised. For nearly 50 per cent farmers with up to two hectares dairy is a viable alternative. Those three identified areas are : 1. Timely operations — agriculture has become highly "sophisticated". Unless along with "training" farmers are also imparted "education", the returns would be marginal and efforts wasteful. The host of farm operations from sowing to use of plant protection chemicals and harvesting will have to be area and need specific. "One general thumb rule will no longer be applicable". 2. Wheat weeds — weed menace in wheat should be a major cause of concern. These wild plants compete for food and nutrition with wheat. In fact PAU is revising its strategy on suggestive dates for wheat sowing. These have to be now different for different agro-climatic regions of the State. Intention being that by the time weeds grow the wheat crop is sufficiently " capable to shadow" them. Vegetables will require a different set of agronomic practices. 3. Soil and water management — With agriculture becoming more knowledge intensive and seeking "capital investment," maintaining fertility of the soil and conserving water becomes imperative. The aim is to maximise productivity per unit area. This puts strain on the soil and water. PAU would prefer to revert to the basics suggesting green manuring rather than pumping in heavier doses of toxic chemicals. Every additional use of a weedicide means adding Rs 500 per acre to the cost of wheat cultivation. The multiple use of these chemicals has to stop. "When Punjab prides in saying it uses 60 per cent of the plant protection chemicals, this is no cause for a cheer. It is depressing. How slow poisoning of food stuffs is being done has to be understood", he added. Dr Kalkat said PAU is concentrating on setting up a post-harvest technology centre now. Both the central and the state governments have given Rs 3 crore to PAU for that. Machinery and equipment tenders have been floated. It should be in place by November. Even as PAU opens new avenues for teaching, research and training, it is constantly working out crop permutations and combinations which will be cost-wise economical, ecologically beneficial and break the cycle of monoculture of rice and wheat. Of immediate interest to
PAU is the promise "winter maize" holds for
farmers. Field experiments are at an advanced stage The
potential of "winter maize" — yet to be
given a proper name — is good : expected yield is 7
to 8 tonnes per hectare. By the end of May PAU’s
variety approval committee is likely to introduce this
"magic crop" which will provide
"feed" for cattle, hold out promise for
"exports". |
IB cautions against RSS
activities FEROZEPORE, May 23 — The intelligence agencies fear revival of militancy if the RSS continues to rake up the issue of Sikh identity in the border state. As the decade-long militancy was earlier sparked off over the question of Sikh identity, they feel that the RSS propaganda has potential to disturb hard-won peace. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) revealed that the Home Dapartment has already been sounded about strong reactions pouring in from a section of the Sikh community after the RSS stepped up its activities in the rural areas. While the RSS asserts that the Sikhs are a part of the Hindu mainstream, the Sikh radicals deny this and claim that they are a separate "quam" (nation). The Sikh radicals have already raised their hackles and accused the RSS of trying to assimilate them into the Hindu majority. Sources in the intelligence agencies pointed out that since militancy was earlier sparked off over this issue, the latest war of words involving the RSS and the Sikh radicals may disturb peace in the border state. They reminded that the Khalistan movement had its roots in this larger question of identity that was raked by both the Hindu fundamentalists and the Sikh separatists after Partition. Although the ruling Akali Dal has not yet reacted strongly to the RSS activities, officials working with the agencies do not rule out a possible fallout of this issue on the SAD-BJP alliance. The Akali Dal too had
advocated a separate identity for the Sikhs, but on
account of political compulsions it is not reacting to
the RSS activities at this point of time. As it cannot
afford to annoy the BJP, with whom it is sharing power in
the state, the Akali Dal has maintained a studied
silence. |
Sikh library books with CBI:
Fernandes AMRITSAR, May 23 — Mr George Fernandes, Union Minister of Defence, has stated that rare books and relics of the Sikh Reference Library, Golden Temple, which were taken away by the Indian Army during the Operation Bluestar in 1984 are lying with the CBI. In reply to a letter by Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, Secretary, SGPC, Mr Fernandes suggested to take up the matter with the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions since the CBI come under the ministry. It may be mentioned here that during the Operation Bluestar, the Sikh Reference Library, housed in the SGPC complex, was set on fire. It was presumed that precious rare books, manuscripts and relics got destroyed during the infamous operation. However, later on the Centre had made it clear that the rich material was "safe". Despite best efforts by the SGPC, the Centre did not disclose where the books were lying. This is for the first time in 16 years that the SGPC could come to know that these books and manuscripts were lying with the CBI. Talking to TNS, Dr Bachan said he was happy to know that the books of the library were "safe". He said the SGPC would now take up the issue with the ministry concerned. The letter written by the SGPC Secretary to Mr George Fernandes in March reads: "We may mention here that the library situated in the holy precincts of the Golden Temple had a rich treasure of rare documents books and manuscripts pertaining to the Sikh religion, Sikh /Punjab history and culture, besides rich material in regard to the people of Southeast Asia. It also contained rare documents related to the struggle for independence of India. The library was made dysfunctional during the Operation Bluestar with the evil design of depriving the Sikhs to have access to their glorious heritage. To cover nefarious designs, a clever artifice was conceived according to which it was made out that the library was burnt to ashes. But this was only a camouflage. The library in good condition was shifted to the Youth Hostel, Amritsar, where catalogue was prepared. On the eve of the Sikh convention scheduled to be held on Sept 2, 1984, the books were despatched onwards by the CBI. The library is of universal importance and is a precious national heritage. The correspondence in
this regard was initiated by then Secretary of the SGPC
with the Prime Minister in 1988. As a follow up some
material had been returned by the Army but 90 per cent of
the material is still lying with the Army." |
SAD ‘ignoring’
Punjabis JALANDHAR, May 23 — Alleging that the Shiromani Akali Dal has shunned its "fight" for different long pending demands of the Punjabis, Mr Jagjit Singh Chaudhary, the leader of opposition in Punjab Assembly, today said the issue of transfer has become job of SAD-BJP leaders and ministers. Talking to TNS here, Mr Chaudhary said the SAD was cheating people of the state in the name of waging a war against "discrimination" with the state, particularly relating to issues of transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab. "The most interesting aspect is that they (Akalis) raise a hue and cry about these issues when they are out of power and forget these as soon as they assume power. The Punjabis have been witnessing this for a long time and have realised that it is nothing but yet another gimmick to get power." Asked what was the stand of his party on these issues, Mr Chaudhari said his party had already passed a resolution demanding the transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab during the Beant Singh regime. Mr Chaudhary alleged that corruption and police high-handedness was at its peak, particularly as far as transfers of employees were concerned. "No transfer is being done without money, resulting in a lot of harassment to employees," he alleged. He said people, particularly those living in rural areas, were being harassed by the police at the behest of local Akali leaders. Mr Chaudhary said before coming to power, the SAD, in its manifesto, had promised that octroi and "inspector raaj" would be abolished, but after coming to power nothing was done in this regard. "Rather people's difficulties have increased manifold due to a sharp rise in number of sales tax barriers in the state." He alleged that 45 per cent people living in cities were not getting proper drinking water while 62 per cent of them were devoid of sewerage. He alleged that the
government had announced "Shagun scheme" for
the poor, but no money was being given to them on this
account and there were 30,000 applications pending with
different district authorities in this connection.
"No scholarships are being given to Scheduled Caste
students for the past three years which has resulted in
touching of backlog of an amount of Rs 80 crore," he
alleged. |
Border MLAs to meet Advani on
May 26 MAJITHA, (Amritsar), May 23 — Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today launched a political campaign to come closer to the voters of border areas who were feeling "ignored" by the government. Mr Badal held "sangat darshan" to redress the grievances of the people. Addressing the "sangat", he called upon the voters not to have faith in rival Akali leaders as they were allegedly helping the Congress by dividing the Sikh votes. Mr Badal announced that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would soon lay the foundation stone of Goindwal thermal plant at Sri Goindwal Sahib in this district as the Union Government had already sanctioned the project and all formalities had been completed. Mr Badal said all Punjab MLAs elected from border constituencies of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepore would meet Mr L.K. Advani on May 26 to apprise him of the problems. He announced developmental projects for Majitha, Kathu Nangal and Tahli Sahib which included the construction of roads, bridges, school buildings, and veterinary hospital. He also announced a sum of Rs 10 lakh for the construction of new building of Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Majitha. The work on 66 KV substation at Bhangali Kalan would be started immediately. He also announced a direct bus service from Majitha to Chandigarh via Kathu Nangal, he added. Addressing the similar
"sangat darshan programme" outside the historic
gurdwara Baba Budha Sahib at Kathu Nangal, the Chief
Minister announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the
development of historical Chawinda Devi village and Rs 30
lakh for the construction of a hospital. |
Gurdwara panel urged to reject
petition AMRITSAR, May 23 — Mr Inderjit Singh Sekhon, president of the management committee of Gurdwara Tilla Baba Farid Shakerganj located at Faridkot today moved the three-member Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission stating that it was beyond the jurisdiction of the commission to try the petition filed by two Sikhs of Faridkot under Section 142 of the Sikh Gurdwara Act pending in this court. The petition was moved by Mr Harbans Singh and Mr Gurdev Singh alleging that the present management of the gurdwara headed by Mr Sekhon had abused power, misappropriated the gurdwara funds and refused to disclose accounts. They had also sought refund of the gurdwara money besides seeking disqualification of Mr Sekhon and Mr Ranjit Singh Kohli, member, for a period of five years. The commission asked the counsel for the petitioners to file reply to the application on May 31. Mr Sekhon through his counsel prayed rejection of the petition on the ground that the provisions of the gurdwara Act were not applicable to the institution in question as it ceased to be a notified gurdwara following the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July on 7,1998, in case involving the Punjab Wakf Board vs state of Punjab and the SGPC and others. The application stated that the Punjab Government at the behest of the Sikh Gurdwara Election Commission had notified the direct elections of the managing committee of this shrine but the high court restrained them from doing so. In view of the earlier judgement of the high court, the Punjab Government had to cancel the elections. The respondent said the
petitioners had concealed facts from the commission and
willfully taken false plea of this shrine being a
notified Sikh gurdwara with mala fide intention. |
Boy’s body exhumed for
compensation LUDHIANA, May 23 — Monetary considerations of the family today led to the exhumation of the body of 10-year-old Basant, who had died yesterday following drowning in the Budha nullah. It is learnt that the deceased was buried near the banks of the Sutlej around noon today. Half an hour after the burial, the police arrived at the scene and allegedly asked the body to be exhumed to avail the compensation offered by the government. Ram Chander Paswan, a neighbour of the family of the deceased, said, "We were taking a dip in the river after the cremation ceremony, when the police arrived at the scene and informed that the compensation would be awarded to the family of the deceased only if a police case was registered under Section 174 of the Cr PC. Raju Paswan, who was also present at the cremation said: "Jaane wala to chala gaya, agar kuchh fayada ho sake to achcha hai. So we decided to exhume the body". So, barely half-an-hour
after being laid to rest, the body of Basant was exhumed
from his grave and sent for the post-mortem to the Civil
Hospital. The police registered a case under Section 174
of the Cr PC after the exhumation. |
Jawan killed in landmine
accident BATHINDA, May 23 — Havaldar Guru Basota was killed and three other Army personnel — Vinod Kumar, K. Alagraju and L. Nayarayan Gowda — were severely injured in a landmine blast which took place in the local military station late last evening. This is the third mine blast in the local military station in the past one year. Earlier, two mine blasts had taken the lives of four Army personnel, including a Major. Police sources said that the blast took place when the Army personnel belonging to 202 Engineering Regiment of New Delhi were laying a landmine in the local military station. The men of 202 Engineering Regiment were undergoing training in this station. The blast took place around 8 p.m. yesterday when one Army man took out the fuse of the mine. After the blast, senior
Army and police officials reached the spot for making
on-the-spot enquiries. The area of the blast had been
sealed for carrying out foolproof investigations to find
out the reasons for the blast. |
Hooch case: medical camp
organised KULAR (Nakodar), May 23 — To remove fear psychosis prevailing in minds of residents of this sleepy village after illicit brew snatched 14 lives between May 5 and 19, the district administration swung into action and organised a general medical check-up camp here yesterday. Nearly 2000 residents of the village, including women and children, were medically examined by team of eight doctors equipped with a mobile van who conducted various tests and offered free on-the-spot treatment. Interestingly, the initial response of residents towards the camp was lukewarm, but following persuasion by doctors and officials people participated in the exercise. "It is a confidence building measure and the objective of the camp is to remove fear prevailing among some residents that they might have been harmed by liquor consumed by them before the tragedy," said Mr Som Parkash, Deputy Commissioner, who supervised the relief measures and the camp along with a team of officials in the village which had witnessed the tragedy due to consumption of home-made brew, allegedly sold by a residents of a nearby village. Two deaths had occurred in adjoining Kahlwan village. Talking to TNS, Mr Mohan Singh (50), a resident of the village, who had come for the medical examination said he feared some adverse affect as he used to buy the brew. "I have been getting a glass of liquor prepared by some people at a rate of Rs 10. Now after so many deaths, I have suddenly realised that it could have harmed my health. So I preferred to attend the camp," he said. Similarly, Kartar Singh, another resident said reluctantly that illicit business had not been a new thing in the area, but what took many lives was a lure of easy money among a group of people who had devised some chemical method to prepare the brew in just an hour. He said he was scared and wanted to undergo medical check-up since he had been taking such liquor. Mr Singhara Singh, an SGPC member, said they would organise campaign to create awareness among people against use of drugs, particularly illicit liquor, at Tut Kalan village on May 28. Mr Som Parkash said besides general medical check up the team of doctors also examined villagers for other diseases. He said the district administration was going to launch an awareness campaign with the help of the police and the excise authorities to avoid such tragedy in future. We are also planning to involve some NGOs in the campaign," he said. The Deputy Commissioner
said he had directed the authorities concerned to remain
in the village to complete formalities so that pension
could be granted to families of those killed in the
tragedy. |
Rice mills’ issue left
to Markfed Board of Directors CHANDIGARH, May 23 —Political and diplomatic pressure on the Punjab Government has finally made the Minister for Cooperation, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, to leave the decision of setting up six rice mills to the Board of Directors of Markfed. According to information available here, a high-level meeting taken by the Minister clinched the issue. In other words, Markfed now will be in a position to install the mills as already its Board had approved the decision in this connection. The machinery for the mills is to be provided by a private company from South Korea. Earlier, because of a controversy regarding the efficiency of the machinery of these mills, Mr Brahmpura had stopped the installation process and ordered an inquiry. The operative part of the inquiry was to find which is the competent authority to decide about the setting up the mills. The inquiry officer reportedly came to the conclusion that the Board of Directors is the competent authority. Mr Brahmpura told all the concerned at the meeting, according to sources, that as the Board of Directors was the competent authority, it should decide whether to go ahead with the setting up of the mills or not. The Korean Government
had taken up the issue of stopping of installation of
mills with the Punjab Government through the Union
Ministry of External Affairs. |
Jailed for accusing father of
rape BATHINDA, May 23 — Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Nahianwala village of this district, who had accused her father, Uttam Singh, of raping her, has landed herself in jail for allegedly registering a false criminal case against him. Uttam Singh, who was booked under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC by the police on May 21, has been found innocent during police investigations. Instead, it has been found that Paramjit Kaur had allegedly levelled a false charge against her father. The FIR registered against Uttam Singh had been converted into a FIR against Paramjit Kaur and one other person. Police sources said that Paramjit Kaur in the FIR had alleged that she had been raped by her father on the night of May 15. She had further alleged that her father had also bitten her on the cheek. Dr Jatinder Kaur Jain, SSP, while talking to mediapersons today, said that Paramjit Kaur allegedly had sexual intercourse with Jagroop Singh, a farm labourer, and blamed her father for the act so that she could indulge in such activities in future without any objection from him. Another motive of Paramjit Kaur was that she allegedly wanted to grab the 26 acres of land owned by her father after sending him to jail. Paramjit Kaur, whose two marriages had failed, was living with her father for the past one year and was allegedly trying to get remarried to the elder brother of her second husband, Baltej Singh of Jandwala village. Jagroop Singh came into Paramjit Kaur’s room after scaling the boundary wall and it was he who had allegedly bitten her on the cheeks on her bidding. Next morning, when the sister-in-law of Paramjit Kaur enquired about the bite marks on her cheeks, Paramjit Kaur alleged that her father was drunk the previous night and had raped her. Dr Jain pointed out that the police got suspicious about Paramjit Kaur’s story from the fact that she did not raise an alarm when she was allegedly being raped by her father. Besides, the version of Karamjit Kaur, younger sister of Paramjit Kaur, also did not support the allegation of rape. Karamjit Kaur was a witness to alleged act, as per the FIR of Paramjit Kaur. He added that both Paramjit Kaur and Jagroop Singh had been arrested under Sections 420, 182 and 120-B of the IPC and given two days’ police remand by the Judicial Magistrate today. Dr Jain said that two
senior police officials conducted a thorough probe into
the incident and found Uttam Singh innocent. |
3 held for attack on
farmer ABOHAR, May 23 — The police seized a rifle with cartridges from Mohan Singh of Banwala village in Hanumangarh district. He was illegally carrying the weapon in a jeep, the police said today. In an another incident
the Sadar police arrested three persons for making an
attempt on the life of Gurdip Singh, a farmer at
Gobindgarh village on Saturday. A case has been
registered under sections 307, 324, 325 of the IPC. |
Fake cassettes sell like hot
cakes LUDHIANA, May 23 — The city, known as Manchester of India, has carved a niche for itself in the dubious field of duplicate products and nowhere is the violation more alarming than in the sale of illegal audio cassettes. Transaction worth crores of rupees take place daily in the city as the original cassette companies look helplessly at the soaring sale of these cassettes instead of their quality product. While these duplicate cassette manufacturers make easy money, the government losses huge revenue by way of sales tax evasion. The music lovers, lured by these relatively cheap cassettes, are also cheated as they are buying inferior products. The police also seems to be tired of conducting to be tired of conducting raids for nailing the trade. In spite of several such moves in the past, the arrest of a number of manufacturers and confiscation of a huge quantity of the cassettes, the trade continues to progress by leaps and bounds. The mafia has become so strong that in recent past when activists of the Save Music Industry-Stop Piracy organisation conducted some raids they were beaten. Hardly does a new cassette reaches the market, its desi copy is available immediately and that too at lower rates. The "copy cats" also release cassettes containing collection of hit songs of different films and music albums within hours of the arrival of the original cassettes in the market and sometimes even before it. These duplicate cassettes virtually sell like hot cakes. The manufacturers have cleverly felt the pulse of the public which is hesitant in buying a film cassette in which normally only one or two songs are worth listening while the others are just average or below average numbers. The duplicate cassette manufacturers thriving of this need of the music lovers record a number of hit songs from different films and the sell these cassettes eagerly awaiting consumers. A shopkeeper said : "the business is lucrative and we don’t see any harm in it. The consumer gets his favorite songs in one cassette instead of buying a number of cassettes. But what the consumers and the shopkeepers are unaware of is huge loss being suffered by original cassette companies and the taxation department through illegal sale of duplicate cassettes. The illegal manufacturers are liable to be prosecuted under the violation of the Copyright Act. Mr Gursharan Singh Sandhu, SP (city), when contacted, said the police had conducted raids a number of times in this regard and apprehended several persons beside confiscating duplicate cassettes. He said the police was vigilant about the illegal trade but as the net was spread far and wide complete success had not been achieved. Mr Sandhu said actually
in this case the consumer could help a lot by refusing to
buy such cassettes and insist on buying only original
ones. |
Headmaster booked ABOHAR, May 23 — One more Headmaster has been booked by the police for allegedly attempting to molest a student, sources said on Monday. According to an FIR registered at the Khuyiansarwar police station under Section 377 of the IPC, the Headmaster of a government school at Hasripuras village had taken a class V student to his residence. Madu Ram, father of the student, alleged that the Headmaster was caught while trying to rape the boy but he, however, managed to escape. Earlier, the Headmaster
of a government primary school at Dutranwali village had
been booked by the Sadar police for allegedly molesting a
girl student. In another case two teachers had been
placed under suspension at Kasllasrkhera and Gumjal
villages for misbehaving with women teachers. |
ASI’s wife alleges harassment LUDHIANA, May 23 — Even as a woman, who claims to be the wife of ASI Joginder Singh, has lodged a complaint with the police that he fired at her and her gunmen on the night of May 21, the police officer has claimed that he is being falsely implicated at the behest of the Khanna Superintendent of Police. In a written complaint sent to the Station House Officer at the Salem Tabri police station, Neelam has stated that she was married to ASI Joginder Singh and of late had been fighting a legal battle against him regarding marital and property dispute in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. She has alleged that yesterday afternoon, Joginder Singh along with a couple of other persons made rounds of her house and threatened to kidnap her so that she could not appear before the next date of hearing at the high court on May 26. It has further been alleged that the above mentioned police officer also tried to take possession of her house last evening along with other persons. "This in spite of the fact that the high court has already given a stay order in my favour," she says. Neelan says she then called up the SHO, Salem Tabri, and the SSP office and informed them about this bid to take over the possession of her house. "It was then that the Salem Tabri SHO came here," she says. "After half an hour, two cops came to my residence to record my statement. When I went out to give my statement along with my gunmen (provided by the PAP, Jalandhar), Joginder Singh came and shot at me. When my gunmen fired in retaliation, Joginder Singh fled from the scene," she complained. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Joginder Singh, who was the CIA in charge, has now been transferred to the police lines. When contacted, the SSP Mr Kuldeep Singh, said it was a routine transfer and that no one had approached him regarding any complaint against the former CIA in charge. However, Joginder Singh
has alleged that Neelam had ganged up with Khanna SP H.S.
Sekhon to falsely implicate him. He alleged that he had
caught Mr Sekhon in a city hotel a couple of days ago in
a compromising position. |
Two ‘jebkatris’
arrested PHAGWARA, May 23 — Two women criminals, Luxmi and Gurmelo, who had hogged newspapers’ headlines a few years ago for having their foreheads tattooed as "jebkatri" (pickpockets) at Amritsar, were arrested by the police at the local bus stand on Sunday while snatching a golden chain of one Ranbir Kaur of Bhagatpura. They were presented in the local court yesterday and remanded into judicial lock up, a press note issued by Kapurthala SSP Iqbal Singh said here today. DSP Satinder Singh said Luxmi had snatched the chain from Ranbir Kaur when she was boarding a bus. She handed over the chain to her accomplice Gurmelo. However, ASI Ajit Singh nabbed them on the spot. The two ladies belong to Jorian village in Sangrur district and are members of an inter-state gang. It may be mentioned that
their foreheads were tattooed by a Ram Bagh police
station officer a few years ago. The tattoo case was
taken to the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had
ordered the removal of the tattooed words
"jebkatri" through facial surgery. |
Most schools sans sports
teachers PATIALA, May 23 — Declining standard of sports in Punjab can be understood if the teachers imparting Physical Education and Sports’ training at the Senior Secondary level are taken into consideration. Only 91 out of 1100 government senior secondary schools in the state have Physical Education Lecturers. In the remaining schools either diploma holders or Physical Training Instructors (P T I ) are imparting Physical Education and Sports training to youngsters of class XI and XII. Where even these are not available lecturers of Mathematics, Science or any other subject are taking these classes despite not knowing anything about sports or even court dimensions. Physical Education and Sports is an optional subject in the faculties of Humanities at the Senior Secondary level. Most of the students of Humanities group opt for this subject along with two other optional subjects. It comprises theory of 30 marks and practical of 70 marks. Sources said though most students were attracted to Physical Education and Sport as it was a relatively easier subject than the others, this very fact could be worked to the advantage of the state. Nirmaljit Kahlon, a sportsman, said rural schools could be a major source of talent for traditional games not taken up by their city brethren. He said the schools however were not taking up the opportunity to spot and train talent as they were not equipped to handle them without qualified teachers. "A wonderful opportunity is being lost but none is taking note of it", he added. This seems to be true if the reaction of the local District Education Office is taken into consideration. An official spokesman of the office said there was not much need for creating any posts of lecturer as the job could be done by the diploma holders and Physical Instructors or even the other teachers. It does not matter one bit who teaches the subject, he said as it was there was not much burden on those teaching the subject, he added. The spokesman felt that lecturers of Physical Education and Sports wanted more posts to be created in the subject so that they could get more promotions and also be posted at schools of their choice. He however, admitted that some schools had asked for lecturers to teach Physical Education. A quick survey revealed that out of 50 Senior Secondary Schools in Patiala only seven schools had lecturers in Physical Education . The strength of students in some schools who have taken Physical Education as a subject but do not have lecturers are — 250 students in the Senior Secondary School at Badson, 95 in Dittupur Jattan, 300 in the Nabha Senior Secondary boys school, 200 in Nabha girls school, 70 in Kalyan and 150 at Bahadurgarh. Government schools of Allowal, Bhunerheri, Dakala, Sanaour and Nandpur Kesho have demanded lecturers in the subject since long. Post-Graduate Physical
Education Teachers Association President Rattan Kumar
Passi said the state was lagging behind other states
since the last few years in the under — 19 age group
in national level sporting activities. He claimed the
academic career was suffering and they were not getting
good training when it was most needed as there were few
competent teachers to guide them. He demanded that either
more posts of lecturer in the subject should be created
or vacant posts in other subjects should be converted in
view of the sports career of the children as well as give
a promotion channel to lecturers who held Masters degree
in Physical Education. |
Additional seats for NRI candidates AMRITSAR, May 23 — To tide over the existing financial crunch and as a measure to generate resources the GND University has created additional seats up to 50 per cent of the existing number of seats in the each course except MBA for foreign, foreign-sponsored, NRI and NRI-sponsored candidates. Disclosing this, Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor, said for the MBA course, 30 additional seats would be available for NRI candidates. The Vice-Chancellor said the foreign candidates would be required to submit photo copies of citizenship certificate and photo copy of the passport as proof. The NRI/NRI-sponsored candidates are required to submit a copy of the Alien Registration Card (Green Card) or Non-Resident Card or Employment Card issued by the employer, photo copy of the immigration, employment visa entry on the passport and certificate issued by the Indian Embassy/High Commission in the country where the NRI is residing would be considered as a proper proof. Talking about the fee structure, Dr Soch said for MBA the fees would be $ 6,000 while for MCA it would be $ 8,000 and $ 4,000 for MSc fermentation and microbial technology, biotechnology, food technology, MTech (urban planning), BTech (food technology), BTech (Sugar technology), BTech (textile chemistry) and B Tech (regional and urban planning). The Vice-Chancellor said the foreign and NRI students would have to pay $ 16,000 for BTech (Computer Engineering) and $ 10,000 for B Tech (Electronics and Communication Engineering). The fee for LL.B (three years) and BSc (Honours School) courses would be $ 3,000 each while for B Arch, LL.B (5 years), Master in Sports Physiotherapy would cost $ 5,000. In case of B Pharmacy and Bachelor of Physiotherapy, the foreign students would have to pay $ 9,000 and for other courses the fee would be $ 1,000, he added. Talking about the mode
of admission for such candidates Dr Soch said the
admission to the various course would be on basis of
merit in the entrance tests to be conducted by the
coordinator or head of the department concerned. However,
he said for the MBA, selection would be made on the basis
of merit in written test, group discussion and interview. |
Plan to revive Urdu in Punjab AMRITSAR, May 23 (UNI) — A small but dedicated group of residents of this city have taken upon themselves the task of reviving Urdu, a language which was even more popular than Punjabi before partition but lost its importance in Punjab over the years. This group, under the banner of ‘Classique Melodies’, hopes to revive Urdu through music and fine arts. The founder and Chairperson of this group is Dr Tajinder Gulati, a lecturer in the Music Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, here and herself a Urdu poetess. "We hope to revive the interests of Punjabis in Urdu through music, that is by holding Urdu and classical ghazal concerts," Ms Gulati said. In the last one year or so, this group has staged three such concerts, the latest one being yesterday in which the audience were entertained by noted ghazal singer Sakhawat Hussain Khan Nishat. The GND varsity too has come to the help of Dr Gulati and her friends by imparting free Urdu learning classes at the Urdu Department of the university. Another member of the group is a local lawyer, Mr A. Kapur, who lamented that a ‘sweet spoken’ language like Urdu was now virtually non-existent in the land of the five rivers, which gave to the world noted Urdu writers like Hafiz Jalandhari, who became the state poet of Pakistan after the partition. Then there were Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi and a number of others, he said. According to him, the
popularity of Urdu declined after the partition because
it began to be identified as the language of the Muslims
which was a wrong misconception. Till the mid-sixties,
the police reports in ‘thanas’ in Punjab were
written in Urdu, the records of patwaris (revenue
officers) and other official work was also in Urdu, but
now everything is done in Punjabi, Mr Kapur added. |
BJP MLA seeks Sanskrit
university AMRITSAR, May 23 — Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, BJP MLA, has sought the setting up of a Sanskrit University in the name of Maharishi Panini, one of the best-known grammatists of the world, as India celebrates the current year as the "Sanskrit Year". The government, she said, had announced a grant for the spread of Sanskrit language. "Though the grant makes provisions for the payment of a stipend of Rs 250 per month to each student of Sanskrit language, yet no intimation has so far been received regarding the details of the stipend," she said. Ms Kanta said Maharishi Panini was a Punjabi and the Vedas were first drafted in Punjab. She lamented that in Punjab itself there was no provision for a master’s degree in Sanskrit language. She appealed to the
government for the fair utilisation of the grant meant
for the spread of Sanskrit language in the country and
abroad. |
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