 |
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| Monday, May 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Rinwa elected Punjab BJP President Punjab to raise Excise Police soon Controversy over another book SAD (A) to launch stir against RSS
AVRC to make documentaries for TV
channels Taraksheel cautions against godmen Pensioners allege discrimination Bane of spurious cattle feed |
|
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Alarming increase in TB
patients Villages connected by link roads AIPRF decries attack on minorities Release detainees: Khalsa Mission Transport workers to oppose
privatisation
Who caught the thief? Body of kidnapped boy found Migrants found drugged One killed in looting incident
Teacher “assaulted” by
students Bibi lays stone of college in Bet
area
|
Rinwa elected Punjab BJP
President CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Mr Brij Lal Rinwa was today declared elected, unanimously President of the Punjab BJP for a three-year term. This was announced at a Press conference by the BJP General Secretary, Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, MP, who was deputed to diffuse the crisis in the Punjab unit. Mr Rinwa replaces Mr Daya Singh Sodhi, MP, who was being opposed by a section of the party which was openly against him. His not getting extension is being termed as a breaking up of a nexus between him and Mr Balramji Das Tandon, a Cabinet Minister . A storm had been gathering against the two for quite some time and the party cadre, insiders said, was upset over the manner of their functioning. During the three years Mr Sodhi and Mr Tandon had the best of time. On occasions more than once, the ousted President had created embarrassment for the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, by his open criticism of government policies. That the internal squabbles had harmed the BJP particularly the organisation, was not a secret any more. Mr Gautam, who briefed newsmen at Punjab Bhavan, said four sets of nomination papers were received, all in the name of Mr Rinwa. The crisis created by the submission of resignation by Punjab’s Organising General Secretary, Mr Jagmohan Kaura, who even threatened to commit immolation, were sought to be underplayed by Mr Gautam. While, Mr Kaura was opposed to Mr Rinwa’s election as President. The visiting BJP General Secretary said all was well that ended well and emphasised that there was unanimity in the party. But the fact remains that the BJP is a house divided. So much so that the outgoing President, Mr Sodhi, did not present the customary, mandatory annual report at the time of the delegates’ session for the election of the President. During his little less than three year tenure there were only four meetings of the party’s working committee. His cloistered style is said to be responsible for his not being re-elected. At the Press conference today while Mr Kaura was present, Mr Sodhi was conspicuous by his absence . When the Press conference was over Mr Sodhi was seen outside the committee room. He was heard telling people around him he had slept all this while. Mr Rinwa has been asked to complete the process of nomination of 13 members to the national committee in consultation with the senior party leaders, including the out going President. Among others the three Cabinet-rank Ministers, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, Mr Madam Mohan Mittal and Mr Manmohan Kalia. were also present at the Press conference. Mr Gautam said unanimous election of the BJP President showed that the party had influence in rural areas as well and Mr Rinwa was not only a Jat but came from rural Punjab. Profile: Mr Rinwa was born in Barike village in Fazilka subdivision of Ferozepore district in 1935. He comes from a Jat family. As a student he was a good NCC cadet, athlete and an orator. He represented the University team in kabaddi. He is a mathematics teacher . He was a professor in DAV College, Abohar. He has been active in politics and was general secretary of the Punjab and Chandigarh Teachers’ Union in 1977. For several years he was a member of the Panjab University Senate. He has risen from the ranks of the RSS having become its member since 1947. He has been a trainer. He was secretary of the Punjab BJP in 1995. Mr Rinwa is a member of the All-India DAV Management Committee, National Telephone Advisory Committee and also a member of the BJP National Council. One of his sons is an
IAS officer in UP while another is a DSP in Rajasthan. |
Punjab to raise Excise Police
soon MANSA, May 28 — The Punjab government has initiated several schemes to protect the interests of traders and consumers of state which are under attack due to disparities in the Sales Tax rates, prevailing in Punjab and neighbouring states. Addressing a press conference here yesterday Punjab Excise and Taxation Minister, Tikshan Sood, said that the Punjab government had lowered the rate of sales tax on a number of items including cycle, cycle parts, pulses, pesticides and other commodities in the recent past to protect sale turn over of Punjab traders. He pointed out that Punjab government was making efforts to make Sale Tax structure people friendly on one hand and on the other hand to meet the target of collection of Rs 3000 crore as revenue from sale-tax in the current year. He added that to solve problems of fertiliser dealers, petrol station owners, halwais, bakery owners and traders on the spot, the committee at the level of Divisional Excise and Taxation Commissioner and Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner would be set up shortly. He disclosed that by setting up Information Collection Centres in border areas of Punjab, the government had been able to increase its income by 35 per cent as compared to the income of last year. The minister said that proposal of creating the Excise Police from taking men from the Punjab Police, IRB and PAP was under active consideration and the Excise Police would come into existence shortly. He added steps were being taken to check illicit distillation of liquor in the state. The Excise officials had also been directed to make efforts to prevent people from consuming the spirit. He said that by imposing
sales tax on the lotteries the Punjab government would
earn Rs 200 crore in the current year. The Punjab
government had already decided to impose sales tax at
first stage on 125 items. |
Controversy over another book JALANDHAR, May 28 — While the controversy around the Namdhari’s book “Purakh Guru” is still on, another row has been started on a book titled “Bipran ki Rit” by a foreign based writer Gurbaksh Singh Kala Afghana. There have been sharp protests and widespread condemnation of the blasphemous book. Mr Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba, a senior advocate and Sikh scholar, Major Jagit Singh Rishi have alleged that the book is blasphemous and a direct attack on Sikhism. Mr Lamba said in 1974 Dr Fauja Singh (since deceased) had written an article in Guru Nanak Dev University’s maiden Journal of Sikh Studies about Guru Tegh Bahadur saying he was killed by Aurangzeb as per the law of the land for rebellious activities and there was nothing more to his martyrdom. There was widespread condemnation of the article and Dr Fauja Singh ultimately accepted that as a historian he had ignored primary historical evidence of “Tilak janju raakha prabdu taanka, keeno bado kalu main saaka,” penned by Guru Gobind Singh himself in Bachittar Natak. Therefore it was tragic that such an attempt should again be made by Gurbaksh Singh Kala Afghana. The book allegedly uses derogatory language against Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh principles and ideology going to the extent of claiming that “the only complaint before the emperor was that Guru Tegh Bahadur was fanning insurgency against the government. Thus those claiming that the Guru sacrificed his life for Hindu religion were sullying the principles of Sikhism.” A Social Welfare
Association G-5 Social and Panthik Watchdog Group has
urged the SGPC, Akal Takht and the Government to take
immediate and appropriate action against the author,
publisher and distributor of the book. |
SAD (A) to launch stir against RSS LUDHIANA, May 28 (UNI) — Senior Akali leader Simranjit Singh Mann MP, today announced a statewide campaign against Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activities in Punjab. Emerging from the executive meeting of his Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) party at Akalgarh Gurdwara here this evening, he told reporters that the first in the series of a month long anti-RSS district-level dharnas would be held at Gurdaspur on June 20 and the last at Patti in Amritsar district on July 20. Mr Mann said party workers, led by executive member Jaswinder Khalsa, today successfully prevented the local unit of the RSS from organising its “shakha” (camp) in Government Primary School at new Subhash Nagar in the city. He appealed to his party workers to stop the RSS from holding “shakhas” all over the state. Mr Mann also he appealed to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take a clear stand against the activities of the RSS, failing which his party would be left with no alternative but to continue its anti-RSS campaign. He said his party would participate in “ghallughara” (genocide) day being held at Golden Temple in Amritsar on June six. His party would organise a state-level conference of Dalits at Moga in July to focus public attention on “atrocities” on Scheduled Castes in Punjab. He urged the Shiromani
Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management to send jathas (groups of devotees) to Sikh
shrines in Pakistan saying a decision of the SGPC not to
do so would be a “historical mistake” he said
Pakistan was the only Islamic state in the world which
had set up a body, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee, (PSGPC) to look after Sikh shrines. This
amounted to recognition of a distinct identity of the
Sikhs by an Islamic state, he added. |
AVRC to make documentaries for TV
channels PATIALA, May 28 — The recently reactivated Audio-Visual Research Centre (AVRC) of Punjabi University is set to make documentaries and programmes on demand for various television channels. Under a new initiative, the university has decided to tap talent and experience at its command to produce documentaries and programmes for television channels. The scheme entails a tie-up with a television channel or independent productions for various channels. If a tie-up does take place the university will provide artistic input, give available objects, identify shooting sights and give scholarly literary input. The investment on the project will be done by the channel concerned. The university has also been made an offer for production of quality Punjabi programmes for the Punjabi Tara channel of the Star group. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, said offers had been made to the university as currently very poor quality programmes were being run by Punjabi channels. He said it was also felt that the Punjabi channels were only focusing on song videos. He said the university felt it could generate quality programmes by taking the help of its Theatre and Television department as well as the music department. He said the AVRC was also taking up the task of producing a full-fledged documentary on Sanghol. He said this would be the first documentary which would concentrate on Uchha Pind where the Harappan excavations had been made. He said the idea behind this project was to tell the history of Punjab over the past few thousand years. He said history would be told in the documentary form and would encompass different cultures and civilisations which inhabited the site. He said special emphasis would be made on increasing the tourism potential of Sanghol through the documentary which would also concentrate on the Gandhara school of sculpture. He said the university had already allocated funds for the project and shooting at Sanghol would start soon. The AVRC has also earmarked funds for a documentary on traditions and style of painting in Punjab in the 20th century. Under this project all schools and styles prevalent in Punjab would be explored with special emphasis on three artists — Amrita Shergill, Sobha Singh and Satish Gujral. The documentary would focus on the life story as well as paintings of the three painters and will tell their stories by taking certain instances from their lives. Dr Ahluwalia said along with concentrating on the legendary painters of Punjab, the documentary would also showcase the artistic productions of its students. He said this was being done to encourage talent as well as strengthen the Fine Arts department of the university. The AVRC is being
activated after nearly three to four years during the
course of which the University Grants Commission had
stopped giving grants to it. The department has recently
been given permission by the UGC for producing films on
distant education after a high-level team visited the
campus a few months back and gave its recommendations for
restarting grants to the centre. |
Taraksheel cautions against godmen FEROZEPORE, May 28 — Mushrooming of the godmen in the state has alarmed the activists of the Taraksheel Society floated to make people aware against ‘‘magical tricks’’ played by them under in the guise of spiritual powers. Growing influence of godmen is being attributed to insecurity prevailing in the society on account of adverse economic conditions. People, especially the farmers who are hit by repeated failure of crops are increasingly turning to godmen’s centres for solace in the Malwa region of Punjab. Coupled with public support and political protection, the number of godmen’s centres is multiplying fast in backward areas of this region. Irrespective of their religious affiliations, men and women of all communities line up at these centres. ‘‘It is a long battle. The public faith they enjoy is almost centuries old, whereas ours is a fledgling outfit founded in 1984’’, says Kishan Bargarhi, senior vice-president of the Taraksheel society. He admits that the resourceful godmen have made a place for themselves even in the modern civilisation with the help of electronic media. ‘‘We are still lagging behind in the race due to paucity of funds’’, he laments. Most of these godmen play ‘‘magic tricks’’, which are misconstrued as miracles by a layman. Besides, taking advantage of the prevailing socio-economic crisis, they try to lay trap to draw crowd by delivering spiritual discourse. These godmen are also accused of consuming nutritious diet to appear extra-ordinarily healthy. Glow on their faces lends credence to the claim that they possess supernatural powers. Gradually, some of these godmen manage to cultivate relationship with powerful politicians, who often rely on them during elections. Cutting across party lines, most political leaders visit their centres to draw attention of their disciples. Likewise, these godmen
take all help from the ruling parties to get subsidised
or free of cost land for running centres. The presence of
maximum number of VIP cars at any spiritual centre makes
it more popular in the public eye. ‘‘Be it a
Congress Minister or an Akali Dal MLA, the nexus between
the godmen and politicians is bound to remain
intact’’, another Taraksheel movement activist
Rajinderjeet says. Taraksheel movement activists
therefore enact similar tricks to convince public that
these are not miracles. ‘‘This will take some
more time, as faith in the science has not yet been fully
restored among the public’’, Rajinderjeet says. |
Pensioners allege discrimination LUDHIANA, May 28 — The Punjab aided-schools pensioners cell alleged here yesterday that “step-motherly” treatment was meted out to them as they were not being given pension in accordance with the new pay-scales. The state government, they alleged, was adopting dilatory tactics in implementing the Fourth Pay Commission recommendations for two thousand pensioners of aided schools, whereas a notification had already been issued on May 31, 1999, to implement these recommendations. Mr K.K. Rudra, general secretary of the cell, said the commission had made recommendations for pensioners in 1998 but the aided-schools pensioners in the state were not given the revised pension like their counterparts in government service. He said the medical allowance which was allowed to the working employees of the aided schools was being denied to the pensioners. The Central Government pensioners also have a similar grievance regarding medical allowance. These pensioners
residing in fourteen big cities are not covered under the
CGS scheme and are paid Rs 100 a month only which is much
less than paid by many state governments. |
Bane of spurious cattle feed BATHINDA, May 28 — Hundreds of factories are making spurious or sub-standard cattle feed. They are using urea, salt and limestone in excess. These ingredients dissolve fat, leading to the increased productivity of milk for a short period. This feed decreases their lactation period, leads to sterility and premature death. Baldev Singh, a dairy owner of Bhagta Bhai Ka Village, alleged that his cows had become sterile and their lactation period had reduced from seven to five months after he gave sub-standard feed to the cattle. Some of the villagers had sold their cattle at a throw away price. The specification of the Dairy Department for the standard feed are that every unit should contain 2 per cent fat, 10 per cent moisture and 21 per cent protein. Ingredients used in the feed are de-oiled cake (DoC), rice bran, fibre, mustard oil cake, “choker”, grains and small quantity of some salts etc. But hardly any factory obeys these norms. The story does not end here. The indiscriminate use of pituitary gland harmone injections to cattle is also very common in the villages. The sale of these injection in almost every village goes unchecked. The milk of these cattle affects consumers. Apart from this cardboard, straw and crushed stone are used in making oil cakes (khal). Apart from some registered firms several unregistered firms are making sub-standard cattle feed at Khanna, Sunam, Rampura Phul, Jagraon, Moga, Baghapura, Barnala, Batala, Kotkapura and various other towns of the State. In Bathinda district only fix firms are registered with the department, but actual number is more than a dozen. Certain registered and unregistered factories have a large number of bags bearing different trademarks. These firms produces cattle feed as per orders for different brands. The market of the feed also includes Haryana and Rajasthan. Feed stocks from Ludhiana, Sangrur and other districts are sold in Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa and vice versa. Most cattle feed units have no signboard in front of the premises. This cattle feed costs the producer between Rs 150 and Rs 250 per quintal and is sold to retailers at Rs 300 to Rs 450 per quintal. The consumer pays even more depending on the brand. A cattle feed unit owner said ‘‘We pay ‘mahina’ (monthly bribe) to the officials concerned. A senior officer of Milkfed said that samples passed by the Dairy Department are also not according to the required standard. Mr Inderjeet Singh,
Deputy Director, Dairy, Bathinda (also in charge of
Mansa), cases of substandard feed have been registered
against several persons. |
Alarming increase in TB patients PATIALA, May 28 (UNI) — Patiala district has earned the notoriety of having a large number of tuberculosis (TB) patients despite having one of the best health structures in Punjab. A recent study conducted by a government agency has revealed that over 2,700 TB patients attended OPD of the Khushdeva Memorial Government TB Hospital here every month and their number has been increasing every year. Eradication of TB was on the target list of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which had organised special campaigns and funded TB eradication programmes of the nation states, particularly India. However, tardy approach of the Punjab Health Department and the state government towards the TB eradication programmes negated this approach, with the result that the number of TB patients has crossed the 20-lakh mark in Punjab. Alarmed by reports of the WHO and various studies conducted by different agencies, the state government now has prepared a “pilot project” for the Patiala area in order to control the growing menace of TB. The World Bank would finance this project called “Direct observation treatment service”. According to sources, three sub-centres were being set up at Nabha, Rajpura and Samana and involving village panchayats for the distribution of special TB kits to patients in rural areas. The sources stressed that continuous treatment should be provided to patients because studies had shown that most of them stop treatment mid-way, making it difficult to eradicate TB. It is not that the TB menace has become alarming over-night in the Patiala area. Even during the era of erstwhile Pepsu state, there were serious reports of TB cases increasing enormously in the area and then the government decided to specially set up Khushdeva Memorial TB Hospital at Patiala to control it. The sources said that apart from the work done by this hospital in the field of TB eradication, it would be in the public interest to know its present state of affairs. The hospital located on one side of a “ganda nallah”, running between Lahori Gate and Sheranwala Gate, is surrounded by commercial establishments and residential buildings, which have cropped up during the past few years in the already crowded area. During the British rule, a TB hospital was set up at Dharampur (Himachal Pradesh) in Shimla hills. Even the TB hospital located at Sangrur was shifted to a building, located along the Patiala-Sangrur road, a few years ago. Surprisingly, the
medical staff working in the TB hospital has started its
own TB clinics in residential areas of the city. One such
TB clinic is being run by a doctor, working in the TB
hospital here, in a “posh colony”. |
Villages connected by link roads PATIALA, May 28 — The distance to transverse between one village to another has been considerably reduced as this year's scheme to link villages within various blocks of the state by constructing 20 km roads has been completed. This was disclosed by Raja Narinder Singh, Minister of Public Health, while addressing a rural gathering at Khurd village in Nabha block, near here, today. A scheme for the outlet of polluted water was launched by the minister at the village. The minister also laid the foundation stone of a dharamshala which will be constructed shortly. He said the money to be disbursed under the old-age pension and other such social welfare schemes had been earmarked. The minister said while the state government was all for the betterment and uplift of the poor, it was rather unfortunate that after scrutiny of documents it was found that nearly 70 per cent of the applicants, who applied for the old-age pension and unemployed welfare schemes, were found to be bogus. Raja Narinder Singh assured the people of the village that the kutcha link road between villages Khurd and Phagora would be renovated and made pucca very soon. This, he said, was a long-pending demand of the people of both the villages. The minister also gave an assurance that the entire cost of constructing an outlet for the polluted water of several villages, which used to collect at various places in the adjoining villages, would be borne by the state government. He also gave a grant of
Rs 31,000 to the organisers of the cultural function held
on the occasion. |
AIPRF decries attack on
minorities SANGRUR, May 28 — The All-India People’s Resistance Forum (AIPRF) at its two-day conference here today strongly criticised the increasing attacks on the minorities and emboldening of Hindutava and communal forces. Expressing solidarity with Kashmiris and North-Eastern nationalities, the conference emphasised the need of forging unity with them to get their aspirations fulfilled within the Indian geographical set-up. The conference also discussed problems being faced by peasantry, working class, Dalits, religious minorities, nationalities, youth and students. Damage caused by huge dams and pollution were also discussed. The manifesto and constitution of the AIPRF were also adopted with some minor amendments. It may be mentioned here the AIPRF was formed about eight years ago. Mr Darshan Pal,
president of the AIPRF, said the anti-imperialist
struggle was the main struggle.Mr G.N. Saibaba, general
secretary of the AIPRF, said the forum would help in
building a new democratic India. The conference was also
addressed by the leaders of fraternal organisations like
Mr Pashora Singh Sidhupur, President of Bhartiya Kisan
Union (Ekta), Mr Kulbir Singh (Delhi), Ms Sunita (Bihar),
Mr Amolak Singh, Mr Amarjit Raju, Mr Hari Singh Tarak, Mr
Baru Satsarg and Mr Balwant Makhu. |
Release detainees: Khalsa
Mission AMRITSAR, May 28 — In the light of announcement made by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani to scrutinise cases of Punjab terrorists and their subsequent release. The Khalra Mission under its chairman Mr Surinder Singh Ghariala has demanded that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal be directed to secure the release of detainees languishing in jails since the eighties. The mission has appealed to Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti to take up the matter with Mr Badal on June 6 the day when families of victims of Operation Bluestar will be honoured by the SGPC. The mission welcomed the Akal Takht Jathedar’s resolve to put up portraits of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Subeg Singh and Bhai Amrik Singh to honour those martyred during the Operation by troops at Harmandar Sahib. Criticising the Congress
especially late Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi for
bringing dishonour on the Golden Temple Mr Surinder Singh
urged for firm steps for the release of those who had
spent nearly 16 years of lives in jail. The mission
welcomed the step of the Union Home Minister and urged
that Mr Badal who had gained secured majority has to
repay his gratitude to Sikhs by prioritising immediate
review and release of a large number of Sikhs in jails. |
Transport workers to oppose
privatisation LUDHIANA, May 28 — The Punjab Government Transport Workers Union will oppose the privatisation of the Punjab Roadways. This was stated here on Friday by Mr Gurdip Singh Moti, general secretary of the union. Mr Moti was addressing a gathering of employees of the Ludhiana depot and 18 other depots of the state in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of the union. In his address, Mr Joginder Dayal, secretary, CPI, Punjab unit, said the present government was subordinating the economy of the country to the USA and other capitalist countries. Mr Bhan Singh Bhaur, MP, said the anti-farmer policies of the state government would ruin the state. He also criticised the police lathi charge on farmers participating in Wednesday’s “chakka jaam” rally and demanded a waiver of their loans. Later, the employees
unanimously adopted a 12-point resolution regarding their
demands. |
Tributes paid to Naik Gurdeep
Singh GARHSHANKAR, May 28 — Warm tributes were paid to the martyr Naik Gurdeep Singh of the Indian Army, on his bhog ceremony, at his native village Bichhodi (Garhshankar) by a large number of villagers, social and political leaders. Gurdeep Singh died at the military post of Samba Sector (Kathua) while fighting the enemy. Four bullets hit him in chest in the early hours of May 13. He is survived by his
old father Khushi Ram, mother Bachani Devi, wife, two
sons and two daughters. |
PCMS body to set up panel on
transfer PATIALA, May 28 — A fact-finding committee to look into the circumstances leading to the transfer of the Medical Superintendent of the Jalandhar Civil Hospital has been set up by the PCMS Association. This was disclosed in a press note of the association jointly signed by Mr M.S. Randhawa, Dr D.S. Gill and Dr Manjit Singh, patron, president and general secretary respectively of the association. The association will
also oppose any transfer made on “irrational”
grounds during the forthcoming general transfers. |
Centre opened for spastic
children LUDHIANA, May 28 — Ashirwad, a rehabilitation centre for cerebral palsy and spastic children was inaugurated by Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, last evening. The centre has been set up by the North India Cerebral Palsy Association at Sant Isher Singh Nagar. Dr Harjit Singh Pruthi
and Dr R.S. Sodhi, president and general secretary,
respectively, of the association said that expert
therapists and instructors were looking after the
affected children. |
Probe ordered into airport
wall collapse AMRITSAR, May 28 —
The newly constructed boundary wall of the runway of
international airport at Rajasansi collapsed due to
substandard material allegedly used for construction.With
a view to “hushing up” the matter the
contractors tried in vain to reconstruct the wall. The
wall collapsed when the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh
Badal, claimed to provide maximum facilities to the
passengers on international flights. The estimated loss
is said to be around Rs 30 lakh. |
Who caught the thief? JALANDHAR, May 28 (PTI) — The nabbing of a thief, who had stolen the crown of a temple idol, today led to conflicting claims here by the police and local residents with both sides claiming credit for catching the culprit in the middle of the night. Superintendent of Police Pawan Uppal told reporters here that Rajinder Kumar, a migrant labourer hailing from a village in Gonda, Bihar, stole the crown, some gold jewellery and five silver coins after gaining entrance to the basement room of Maha Lakshmi Temple where the idol was installed. He said the theft occurred around midnight and the culprit was caught by Nirmal Singh, SHO, police station No IV Jyoti Chowk here, at 4.30 a m. However, minutes after Mr Uppal’s claims before mediamen, district Congress Sewa Dal block chief Malkit Singh said it was he who had nabbed the thief in a street near the temple. “Jyoti chowk, from where the police claims to have caught the culprit, is nearly one-and-a-half-kilometre away from the actual spot where I not only caught the thief but also thrashed him. I only handed over the thief to Nirmal Singh,” Mr Malkit claimed. Neither Mr Uppal nor Mr
Nirmal Singh were available for comments. |
Body of kidnapped boy found TARN TARAN, May 28 — The police yesterday found the decomposed body of an eight-year-old boy, Gurpinder Pal Singh, alias Gopi, a resident of Kohala village who was kidnapped on May 23. The kidnapper had been identified as Tejinder Singh, alias Billa, a resident of the same village. Billa, a drug addict, it is alleged, kidnapped Gopi with a view to extorting money from his family but killed him instead. The police has arrested
Dilla and registered a case under Sections 302, 201, 364
and 365 against him. |
Migrants found drugged JALANDHAR, May 28 (UNI) — Two migrants were found unconscious in the Tata-Muri Express at the city railway station last night, police sources said. Sources in the Civil Hospital, where they were admitted for treatment said the migrants seemed to have been drugged with the police saying the objective could have been to deprive them of cash. But a policeman at General Railway Police (GRP) station said SHO Ajit Singh was away on the railway platform and he was not aware of inventory of cash and articles, if any, made when the migrants were brought down from the train compartment at 9 p.m. He said the migrants were not yet in a position to record their statements. In a similar incident in the Barauni Express at the city railway station last year, more than 20 migrants were found drugged and their cash was found missing. Doctors in the Civil
Hospital said it could take up to 48 hours for drug
effect to wear off. Last year, too, it took up to 72
hours for most drugged migrants to be normal. |
One killed in looting
incident KHANNA, May 28 — One person was killed and two others was injured in a looting incident at Ghurala village, 15 km from here yesterday. Some unidentified persons entered the dargh of Peer Lala at Ghurala village late night on Friday. They injured the in charge of dargh Sai Kartar Singh and his assistant Labh Singh with a hand pump handle. After looting costly
articles they escaped Kartar Singh died on way to the
hospital. Labh Singh has been admitted to Rajindera
Hospital, Patiala. A case has been registered. |
Teacher “assaulted” by
students CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) here today flayed the attack on a teacher on examination duty at DAV College, Bathinda, yesterday. Prof Charanjit Chawla,
General Secretary of the PCCTU, today said Prof Iqbal
Singh from SD College, Barnala, was assaulted by students
while on examination duty. The union has urged the
Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Mr Jasbir Singh
Ahluwalia, to look into the matter and ensure safety of
teachers. |
Bibi lays stone of college in
Bet area GURDASPUR, May 28 — Bibi Jagir Kaur, president, SGPC addressing a rural gathering at Jhanda Lubana village in the Bet area of Kahnuwan in this district after laying the foundation stone of Mata Sahib Kaur Tri-centenary Khalsa College in the village said that the SGPC has earmarked a sum of Rs 1.4 crore for promotion of education in education institutes by the SGPC during the current year. The SGPC has allocated a sum of Rs 2 crore for the college and an instalment of Rs 25 lakh will be released shortly period. The college will start
functioning during the coming academic session. Computer
education and +1 and +2 classes only will be started this
year. |
 |
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