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| Sunday, July 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
Bogus society gets legitimacy? Badal rules out mid-term poll Law flouted to bail out flesh trade accused?
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Councillors stage walkout
Conservative Patialvi women take up walking Aviation Club official suspended Split in PCS officers’ body Claim to promotion allowed 20 houses along rail track demolished Army to clear Harike Lake of hyacinth SGPC to construct
Rs 28-cr hospital
‘Admn’s foresight saved Patiala, Ghanaur’
Woman held with poppy husk
Punjabi
University revises admission schedule School in memory of
accident victims
Coop bank clarifies
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Bogus society gets legitimacy? CHANDIGARH, July 22 — Has the United Cooperative House Building Society been lent “legitimacy” with the Punjab Minister of Cooperation, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, laying its foundation stone at Mohali on Friday? This question becomes relevant when asked in the context of the order of the Court of the Registrar Cooperative Societies, passed on February 23 last, which has held that the membership of the society was “bogus”. The order also stated the Deputy Registrar and two other officials of the Cooperative Department would examine each of the claims received in keeping with the bye-laws of the society to determine whether a member was genuine or not. This task was to have been completed within 90 days. The court had passed the order on a petition filed by two members of the society, Sukhmandar Singh and Prabhdeep Singh, who had pleaded that the list of 356 members submitted by the respondents, namely, the society and some members, to the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Agency (PUDA) was not genuine. They had pleaded that the same should be declared “illegal, null and void”. But given the influence of the members and the clout some of them have with the powers that be, the order of the Court of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, was got “stayed” from the Financial Commissioner, Cooperation. Around that time, the society managed to hold “election” as well but the same was challenged. That petition is still pending with the Deputy Registrar, Cooperatives. The society has been allotted 9.40 acres in Sector 68 of Mohali by PUDA. Inter alia, the court order also says that membership record of the society had been tampered with time and again. The society was registered in June 1986 with 15 members. As per the audit report (1988-89), the membership was 18. Thereafter the membership of the society was increased for reasons which were not clear from the record. The court found membership figures had gone up without any resolution to that effect. Even when the list of 365 members was submitted to PUDA no formal resolution was passed by the society. The membership of the society had increased to 356 after June 1998, when the committee was suspended and Mr Sarjant Singh (deceased), Inspector was appointed its administrator. It was he, who forwarded the list of 356 members to PUDA for allotment of land. At one stage the membership had reached to 599. Understandably, neither the Financial Commissioner, Cooperation nor the Registrar, Cooperative Societies attended the function to mark the foundation stone laying ceremony at Mohali. The invitation was from the President and Honorary Secretary of the society. But insiders say that several members of the society were “contractors” and “business” people who had the right connections in the political-executive and bureaucracy to get the things done the way they wished to. |
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Badal rules out mid-term poll RAIKOT (Ludhiana), July 22 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, yesterday ruled out mid-term elections in the state, and made it clear that “doling out largesse” upon village panchayats during sangat darshan programme had nothing to do with elections. Talking to mediapersons during a sangat darshan programme here he said: “Let it be taken as a categorical statement that there are not going to be any mid-term elections in Punjab and the government will complete its term.” Asked if liberal distribution of funds at such programmes and prolonged interaction with people in the presence of senior officers were not pointers towards an election in the offing, Mr Badal retorted: “We (the government) are doing what we are supposed to do. “You (the media) criticise us when we do not work and now when we are trying to reach to the people and take the administration to their doorsteps, our motives are being suspected.” On his party’s stand on the issue of autonomy, Mr Badal said the Akali Dal had always championed the cause of state autonomy and stood committed to the resolution adopted on this issue at a general body meeting of the party. He said depending on the situation, the party would not hesitate to bring the resolution in the Assembly. The Chief Minister denied that there was any move for a
rapprochement with Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. “There is no such move and no emissary from the other side had met me,” he asserted. However, he hastened to add that he had nothing personal against Mr Tohra and coming together once again was not an impossible thing only if he (Mr Tohra) stopped hobnobbing with the Congress. Mr Badal said the sangat darshan programme would be strengthened to cover each Assembly
constituency with a view to accelerating the pace of development. These programmes would be personally attended by him along with senior government officers and spot grants would be disbursed after discussing development projects. He said the year being observed as development year, the state government would spend around Rs 4000 crore for infrastructural facilities like repairs and construction of roads, bridges, school buildings and hospitals. Responding to the demands of residents of Raikot, he announced that Rs 20 lakh would be provided for a new 25-bedded hospital, Rs 1.5 crore for sewerage scheme and another Rs 70 lakh for the construction of a canal bridge at Sudhar. |
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Law flouted to bail out flesh trade accused? AMRITSAR, July 22 — Mr Satya Pal Dang, veteran CPI leader, in a letter to the District Sessions Judge, the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Director, Prosecution, and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, has alleged that legal provisions were overlooked to secure the bail of four persons booked under the immoral traffic Act in Chheharta. Elaborating on the serious lacunae in the FIR “overlooked deliberately or unwittingly” by the Duty Magistrate under whose signature the bail application was formalised, he has said the latter had acted in a “partial” manner. The letter says that Section 5 of the Act has two sub-sections, while neither has been specified in the FIR dated July 11. A sub-section of Section 5 prescribes to 14 years of imprisonment. It deals with forcible prostitution. The other prescribes to three years of imprisonment to a person willingly indulging in immoral trafficking. Accusing the police and the Duty Magistrate of connivance of negligence, Mr Dang says in case of 14 years of imprisonment, the bail orders can only be given by a Sessions Judge whereas in the latter, a trying Magistrate can grant bail. “The Duty Magistrate in her capacity gave bail to the accused without verifying any of the sub-stations,” the letter says. Mr Dang says the Assistant Public Prosecutor also misled the DM when he did not raise objections during the hurriedly executed bail orders. He has demanded that the house used to conduct the flesh trade be sealed and the bail orders cancelled without any delay. |
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Untamed flows Ghaggar CHANDIGARH, July 22 — Even 53 years after Independence, the Ghaggar continues to flow untamed and menacingly. It has been causing devastation in certain districts of Punjab and Haryana almost every year for the past several decades. Known as a river of sorrow and misery in the vast part of Malwa region in Punjab, the Ghaggar has not only taken several lives in the past years, but it is also a cause of abject poverty for a large number of farmers in Patiala, Sangrur and Mansa districts of Punjab and Ratia-Jakhal areas of Haryana. During the monsoon it tears away several thousand acres of agriculture land. It leaves silt on thousands of acres during July-August. After this period it flows quietly. Farmers owning land along its banks battle every year to save their land from being swept away. But many of them fail. In the past one week, several thousand farmers have had sleepless nights due to Ghaggar’s fury. Its fury continues to hit farmers, especially in the Moonak area of Sangrur district. In fact, farmers remain on tenterhooks till the end of the monsoon. Sixtyfive-year-old Gurnam Singh of Bahora village in Patiala district has been a witness to several devastations caused by the Ghaggar in Patiala’s Banur areas in the past 50 years. Politicians made promises to tame the Ghaggar, but none of them kept their word. In the last Vidhan Sabha election, the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had come out with a slogan ‘‘Tusi Congress chuk deo, main Ghaggar chuk dianga’’ (You remove Congress and I will remove the Ghaggar). The Congress was defeated but the Ghaggar continues to bring misery and misfortune to people. In the past years Mr Gurnam Singh and his brother Mr Karnail Singh’s 18 acres has been washed away by the Ghaggar. ‘‘We both brothers have left with three acres each’’, Mr Gurnam Singh said while talking to TNS this afternoon. Another farmer Gurbax also narrated a similar tale of woes. There are thousands of farmers like Gurnam Singh and Gurbax Singh in Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa districts in Punjab and Fatehabad district of Haryana who have suffered incalculable financial loss in the past decades because of Ghaggar. After flowing out of the Shivalik hills, the Ghaggar enters Punjab via the Nadha Sahib area. It moves downstream through Ghanaur, Devigarh, Khanouri, Moonak and enters Haryana near Jakhal and then flows back into Punjab via Sardulgarh to again enter Haryana via Sirsa district. Downstream from Nadha Sahib it sweeps away large chunks of agriculture land. In fact, the turbulent behaviour of the Ghaggar has made the farmers settled on its banks shift to
single-crop pattern. It has not allowed paddy to survive for the past many years in many villages along the Patran-Moonak road, the area where a large number of farmers have committed suicide because of poverty. It not only devastates crops and fields but also leads to bloody
feuds among villagers living along its course. When residents of one village try to raise a protection bundh, the inhabitants of the other village oppose the same. They fear the overflow of water would hit them. Near Khanauri Mandi the Ghaggar has been a cause of bitterness between the district administrations of Sangrur and Patiala. Intervention at the state level has saved the situation. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and the then Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, and the former SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra had held a number of meetings in 1998 to plan a dam across the Ghaggar near Panchkula. But the proposal did not mature. It was a project worth Rs 300 crore. Again the Punjab Government has revived the old proposal and the Punjab Irrigation Minister, Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon has held a meeting with Haryana officials. Mr Sekhon told TNS that he had briefed Mr Badal about the meeting and requested him to approach his counterpart, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for a serious talk about taming the Ghaggar. He said the Haryana Government had planned to raise a dam near Otto village in Sirsa district. The dam would not do away the threat of floods in the upstream areas, which include a large part of Mansa, Sangrur and Patiala districts. Only harvesting of the Ghaggar water near Panchkula could solve the problem of floods downstream, he added. Capt Amarinder Singh, the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee , told TNS that his wife Mrs Parneet Kaur has taken up the issue with NABARD, an apex cooperative bank. The bank authorities are prepared to finance the project for taming the Ghaggar. He said Mrs Parneet Kaur has also urged Mr Badal to take steps to save the people from the repeated fury of the Ghaggar. |
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Moonak, Khanauri face flood threat KHANAURI (Sangrur), July 22 — The flood situation in the Moonak and Khanauri areas is worsening after the constant passing of flood water through Battidara syphon near Khanauri. The Ghaggar water is still touching the danger mark at 753 feet, at RD 460, near here. The flood water have entered the low-lying residential areas of Mandvi village from where 20 families were evacuated by the administration. Due to water on link roads some villages of Khanauri and Moonak were cut off from Therri and Chandu villages. The administration may tonight breach the Jhambowali choe embankment near Banga village to protect Hotipur and Nawan Gaon villages near Moonak. The administration may also breach the Karrel bundh to protect Moonak. Even the railway line from Jakhal to Kaithal is under threat due to the heavy flow of water in Battidara. The water came in Battidara due to breaches and overflowing of water in the Ghaggar near Badshahpur and Sadharanpur villages in Patiala district. Standing crops, especially paddy, in about 1,5000 acres in 14 villages of Moonak subdivision have been inundated. Talking to TNS at the Canal Rest House here this afternoon, Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, said the priority before the administration was to save the populated areas in the Khanaur and Moonak areas. He said for this purpose, the administration might even tonight breach the Jhambowali choe embankment near Banga in the Moonak belt. It might also breach the Karrel bundh near Moonak. Mr Tiwari said the populated areas in all villages were safe in Moonak subdivision so far. The administration had evacuated only 20 families from the low-lying areas of Mandvi village. The Deputy Commissioner also said the administration had divided 26 flood-prone villages in five sectors to form rescue teams comprising doctors, veterinarians and other officials. Each team had been provided with an ambulance. Mr Tiwari along with AC (General) and ASP is monitoring the situation by camping at the Canal Rest House today. Mr Gobind Singh Longowal, Minister of State for Irrigation today visited Khanauri to review the situation. |
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Water theft hurts tail-end farmers FAZILKA: Farmers in the border villages of Fazilka subdivision have not been receiving their due share of irrigation water for the past three months due to erratic canal water supply and alleged theft of irrigation water as a result of which water does not reach the tail-end of the distribution system. As irrigation of the paddy crop that had already been planted has been hit hard by the water shortage, some of the farmers who do not have alternative means of irrigation have been compelled to plough their fields and do the planting all over again. Water from the Eastern Division Canal reaches the Chack Pakhi headworks in this subdivision via Ferozepore and Jalalabad. Official sources say that 2,200 cusecs of water is released for irrigation from the canal for the Ferozepore, Jalalabad and Fazilka areas. Out of this, the share of the Fazilka area from the Chack Pakhi headworks is 900 cusecs, but the farmers receive only about 600-700 cusecs. Due to erratic and short supply of water, all three distributaries irrigating land in about 80 villages, instead of being made operational simultaneously, are run turn by turn. According to sources, although adequate canal water is available in the Ferozepore and Jalalabad areas, some farmers of these areas who allegedly enjoy the patronage of the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine, are indulging in large-scale theft of water. They raise barrages under the bridges and divert the water, thus reducing the availability of water at the Chack Pakhi headworks. Farmers whose fields are situated at the tail-end bear the brunt of the theft. Expressing anguish over the inadequate supply of irrigation water, Mr Sahib Ram, Nambardar of Beganwali village, says the farmers are ready to pay the revenue for their share of water, but the government should ensure adequate and regular supply. The SDO (Canal), Mr Bhagwant Singh, when contacted, conceded that there was a short supply of water to the Chack Pakhi headworks, but added that at present it was receiving sufficient supply. According to him, one of the reasons for the short supply at the tail- end was that the eastern branches of the canal had not been cleaned for many years for want of funds. The farmers whose fields are situated on the tail-end have demanded that the Punjab Irrigation and Canal Department should remove the illegal barrages raised at different places and check the theft of water. |
Councillors stage walkout ABOHAR, July 22 — Members of the Congress, the BSP and dissident BJP members staged a walkout from the hurriedly convened meeting of the local municipal council last evening when the House endorsed the selection of 25 clerks and peons for the already overstaffed octroi department. Among those selected were four relations of BJP
councillors. The Opposition councillors said they had submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding that the municipal president, Mr Babu Ram
Asrya, be directed to seek a vote of confidence as he had “lost not only their confidence, but also the confidence of more than one lakh citizens.” Earlier in the day, a large number of men and women entered the municipal complex, raising slogans against the president and executive officer for the “erratic” supply of drinking water in Nai Abadi and other localities. The protesters stormed the council office and disrupted work. The president tried to shift responsibility on the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, but the sub Divisional Engineer refuted all allegations, saying the board had demanded Rs 1 lakh for laying water pipes but the council had not issued a cheque so far. The citizens got further agitated and created a noisy scene. Led by Mr Rajesh Gupta, they warned the authorities against “drastic steps” if their grievance was not redressed. |
Conservative Patialvi women take up walking PATIALA, July 22 — Walking may be an Olympic sport, but Patialvis, particularly womenfolk, living in the walled city, who till a couple of years ago, seldom ventured out of the four confines of their houses, have now realised that it is time to get smart about self-care. With gym culture now passé, the walled city residents have turned hyperactive and have taken to jogging and walking in a big way as an exercise, either to slash off that extra flab around their waist lines, or just to keep a healthy mind in a health body. Starting from 4 am, for these conservative Patialvi women it seems, all roads lead to the sprawling and serene Baradari Gardens, having a perfect ambience for these women who want to jog. By 6 am, the baradari is turned into a small township. What takes the cake is that womenfolk of the walled city, who are highly conservative in their mental make-up, can also be seen, with husbands in tow, making a beeline for the Baradari Gardens in their endeavour to get fit. The phenomenon of the residents of the walled city, where more than 60 per cent of populace lives, coming out in the open is relatively new, as earlier they were content to do a little bit of calisthenics either on their rooftops or in the narrow streets. Now because of crass commercialisation, green spots, leave alone small parks, are at a premium. The entry to those who wish to walk in the NIS complex is restricted as various national camps are held the year round. The authorities do not want to disturb the schedule of these campers. What has made these conservative women change their attitude and come in the open to jog, walk and do calisthenics? As a senior psychologist puts it, “Social isolation is the main reason why these women are keen to come out of their homes. This type of isolation tends to create high stress levels, which can raise blood pressure and lead to premature ageing, which takes a toll on the immune system of the human body, making it imperative for these women to be more extrovert.” Yet another reason for these women, a majority of whom do not belong to financially secure families, to shed their inhibitions to stay home in the mornings is that walking is the simplest and least expensive of all exercises. It can be done without any equipment, except for a good pair of shoes. For these women, whose primary problem is to make off those extra kilos, walking is the best exercise. Some conservative women, in their endeavour to lose weight in double quick time, are coming to doctors with a particular problem, commonly named as intermittent claudication. A cardiologist says this problem is due to disorder of one or more joints or muscles. Under this condition, there is intense pain in one or both calves after walking a certain distance This has not deterred these women to shrug off the cloak of conservatism to don the cloak of modernity and come out in the open to have a long walk, come rain, sunshine or sleet. More and more of the walled city women are coming to have a walk with each passing day.  |
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Aviation Club official suspended AMRITSAR, July 22 — Mr J.S. Bedi, Chief Engineer-cum-Quality Control Manager, Civil Aviation Club has been placed under suspension after a charge sheet was served on him. The orders regarding the suspension of Mr Bedi were served by Mr Narinderjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Manager, Civil Aviation Club. Mr Bedi is accused of insubordination and inciting other employees for insubordinating adversely affecting the reputation of the institution. The charge sheet also charged him of causing loss of revenue to the institution and jeopardising the career of trainees, negligence and carelessness in performing duty, “his act of fraud” cheating and breach of trust. According to official sources, Mr Bedi has already got anticipatory bail from the local court till July 28. In the application, Mr Bedi pleaded that he was being harassed on “baseless” charges. An FIR was lodged against Mr Bedi in the local police station on the basis of the complaint of a trainee who claimed he had been cheated out of money. The aviation club has been in the news recently following an indefinite strike from April 18, due to non-payment of salaries. It has also been facing a financial crunch as the state government has not enhanced its grant-in-aid over the past about 20 years. Its total grant-in-aid is only Rs 1.75 lakh and most of its aircraft are around 40 years old. The new aircraft provided to the club are unserviceable for a variety of reasons. As a result the number of trainees is small, usually less than 15. Mr Bedi could not be contacted for comments. However, sources close to him alleged that he was being “implicated” because of “infighting” within the club. |
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Split in PCS officers’ body CHANDIGARH, July 22 — The ongoing tussle within the PCS Officers Association (Executive Branch) today climaxed into a split in the Association. The PCS officers belonging to Scheduled Caste, Backward Class and ex-servicemen categories have formed their separate association by electing Mr Rakesh Ahir its President. Mr Harkesh Singh Sidhu and Mr Baljit Singh have been elected its Senior Vice Presidents and Mr Baldev Singh as its General Secretary. A meeting of the Association was called at Punjab Bhavan today to elect its office bearers. However, before the election, certain PCS officers questioned the functioning of certain office-bearers and alleged that they had canvassed for securing service benefits for certain PCS officers. This led to a heated exchange and the PCS officers belonging to the reserved categories walked out of the meeting to form a separate association. Mr Baldev Singh, General Secretary of the newly formed All Reserve Categories PCS Officers Association said in a signed statement that the issue with regard to the “correct” implementation of the Janjua II judgement came in sharp criticism before the walk-out from the meeting. Officers belonging to reserved categories alleged that certain office bearers of the Association played a key role for the alleged wrong implementation of the Janjua judgement by presenting their viewpoint before the Chief Secretary. The tussle within the Association started on the eight IAS cadre posts which are to be filled from the PCS cadre by promotion. A-top level committee having senior Punjab officers and some officers of the Union Government selects officers from the PCS cadre for such posts. The meeting for filling the posts was fixed and names of 27 PCS officers were short listed for the interview by the committee about two months ago. However, as the Punjab Government took the plea that it wanted to revise the seniority list of the PCS officers, the meeting was postponed. Certain PCS officers had also moved to the Supreme Court and CAT in this connection. Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has circulated a revised seniority list among the PCS officers asking for objections, if any. Informed sources said with the revision of the seniority list, certain officers of the reserved categories have suffered a big loss as far as their seniority was concerned. For instance, Mr Harkesh Singh Sidhu, who was at number one in the 1986 batch of the PCS has gone to the 26th place in the revised senior list and Mr Gopal
Krishan, who was at number three has slipped to the 36th place and Mr Baljit Singh and Mr Rakesh Ahir has gone down to 23rd and 30th places, respectively, in the revised list . They were at number five and seven respectively, in the 1996 batch seniority list. Only a few days ago, certain ministers and IAS and PCS officers belonging to the reserved categories had met the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S.Mann, and other senior officials under the leadership of the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal. They had urged for the suspension of the implementation of the Janjua judgement and had asked for a consultation with legal experts. Mr Badal had reportedly told them to consult legal experts in Delhi. They had also urged Mr Badal to post officers belonging to reserved categories at certain places to guard the interest of reserved categories during promotions and recruitments. |
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Claim to promotion allowed CHANDIGARH, July 22 — Allowing a writ petition, a division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Union of India and other respondents to consider Subedar Major J.S. Randhawa’s claim to promotion for the post of Assistant Commandant in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police with effect from February 6, 1998. Pronouncing the orders, the bench, comprising Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice K.S. Garewal, also directed the respondents to do the needful within two months from receiving the order’s copy. The bench added: “On the petitioner’s promotion, he would be entitled to all the consequential benefits regarding fixation of pay and arrears of salary etc”. Seeking directions to the respondents to consider him for promotion, the Subedar Major, in his petition, had earlier contended that “despite being fully qualified and his record being good, he was wrongly overlooked for promotion”. Counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, had stated that the petitioner had failed to successfully pass the Subedars’ Refresher Course attended by him from January 8, 1996 to March 25, 1996. Notice to FC Issuing notice to Punjab Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Ms. Shyama Mann, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked her to show cause as to why proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act be not initiated against her for alleged disobedience of orders regarding the release of arrears. Pronouncing the orders in the open court on the petition filed by retired Grade-I Superintendent, Mr Harbhajan Singh Josan, Ms Justice Bakhshish Kaur, however, granted the respondent exemption from personal appearance. In his petition, Mr Josan had earlier stated that, as per the high court orders, he was entitled to the benefit of arrears with effect from June 1, 1956 to February 28, 1982. Claiming partial compliance of orders, his counsel had contended on his behalf that arrears had, however, been released to Mr Josan with effect from March 15, 1971 to February 28, 1982. |
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20 houses along rail track demolished BATHINDA, July 22 — As many as 20 houses located in Gopal Nagar were today pulled down by the railway authorities allegedly without giving any prior notice to the occupants. The owners, who have been left roofless, said railway officials along with the police started demolishing permanent structures without giving any warning to them to vacate the premises. Interestingly, in certain cases the railway authorities also ignored the fact that the occupants had valid power and water connections and ration cards. Mrs Baljeet Kaur pointed out that she was allotted the permanent house number by the municipal council authorities. She said she pleaded with railway officials to give her some time to vacate her dwelling but nobody listened to her. She said her house was demolished when no male member of her family was present. Mr Mukesh Kumar, another occupant, said they had been living in the locality for the past 25 years and had been enjoying facilities of water supply, power connection and ration card. He added that the railway authorities did not give them any notice before pulling down their houses. Most of the houses which were demolished by the railway authorities were located near the rail track. No official of the Railway Department could be contacted. |
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Army to clear Harike Lake of hyacinth HARIKE (Ferozepore), July 22 — The Army has been given the responsibility to remove water hyacinth, a South American weed, which has been eating up rivers and lakes. Soldiers have ventured into the Sutlej to weed out hyacinth from the Harike Lake before the arrival of migratory birds. Although the exercise will be officially flagged off on August 6, a visit to the lake revealed that about 50 soldiers with equipment were already on the job. At least three mechanical boats carrying the soldiers were crisscrossing the lake. Armed with ropes and nets, the soldiers were seen pulling out hyacinth. It is estimated that about 1,000 tonnes of hyacinth has already been flushed out of the lake. If the pace of the work is any indication, the lake shall be substantially cleared before August 6, when a Punjab minister will flag off the project. Both Army and the state government had earlier chalked out strategy to save the wetland from the hyacinth. The soldiers are using dynamic boom with the help of wooden logs to clear the lake. Steps are also being taken to stop the hyacinth from floating into the Rajasthan and Sirhind canals. |
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SGPC to construct
Rs 28-cr hospital KHANNA, July 22 — The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) will construct a 700-bed hospital at Amritsar at an estimated cost of Rs 28 crore. This was stated today by Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, while addressing a gathering at Sultanpur village, nearly 18 km from here. Bibi Jagir Kaur said the SGPC would spend Rs 10 crore during the current year for this purpose. The SGPC would adopt 15 students every year for higher education within the country or abroad, she said. While talking to mediapersons, she said the SGPC would, launch a drive for the adoption of “Rehat Maryada” in all gurdwaras. SGPC members Kirpal Singh Khirnia, Devinder Singh Cheema, Bhagwant Singh and MLA Sadhu Singh Ghudani were among those honoured on the occasion. |
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RCF coaches for
Vietnam KAPURTHALA, July 22 — The Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory (RCF) will export 72 metre gauge coaches to Vietnam National Railways by September and the first consignment of 18 coaches will be despatched by July 24. This was stated here today by the RCF General Manager, Mr V.P. Ojha, to mediapersons after flagging off the 10,000th coach manufactured by the RCF. He said negotiations with Bangladesh and Iraq were going on for the export of coaches. |
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March taken out PHAGWARA, July 22 (FOC) — Activists of the Anti-Corruption Association took out a march here today from the local police station on the Banga Road to the SDM’s office on the GT Road and held a rally in protest against the arrest of Mr Ravi Bedi, president, of the association and Mr S.M. Duggal, a senior leader, on the complaint of Mr Surinder Singh Shinda, a leader of the Lok Bhalai Party.
Veterinary camp GURDASPUR, July 22 (FOC) — The local Rotary Club (Midtown) organised a veterinary camp at Dhariwal Khichchiya, 4 km from here, today. Dr Ghambir Inder Singh, Deputy Director, District Animal Husbandry, inaugurated the camp. |
‘Admn’s foresight saved Patiala, Ghanaur’ PATIALA,
July 22 — Patiala Improvement Trust Chairman Manmohan Singh today said the foresight shown by the administration in tackling the flood situation had saved Patiala as well as Ghanaur subdivision from being severely flooded following breaches in Ghaggar river and the
Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal . In a statement here , Mr Bazaz said the decision of the district administration to get the discharge in the Narwana Branch Canal, flowing through Ghanaur subdivision, reduced before the Ghaggar breached its retaining wall at R D 150 at Sarala Kalan village and started flowing into the Narwana Canal had averted a catastrophe . He said if the discharge in the Narwana had not been reduced in advance , there was every risk of a breach occurring in the canal, which would have endangered 80 villages in
Ghanaur, Bhunerheri and Sanaur blocks, as well as the outskirts of Patiala city . He said an indication of this could be gauged from the fact that part of the embankment of the Narwana Canal had caved in after the Ghaggar started flowing into it despite the discharge in the canal having been reduced
. Mr Bazaz said the administration had fought a multi-pronged battle when Ghaggar water started spilling and breaching at several places . He said despite breaches at Kami Kalan and Lachru Khurd, there had not been any large-scale destruction as the reaction time had been very quick and both breaches had been tackled on a war footing . Reacting to a statement of the Patiala mp Preneet Kaur regarding floods and the role of the district administration in this matter , he said political parties should not let their party position cloud their vision. He said though the water level in the Ghaggar was more than two lakh cusecs this year, as compared to 1.96 lakh cusecs in 1993, the situation had been brought under control contrary to 1993 when the district administration had been
caught unawares by the floods . The Chairman said this year an elaborate exercise had been undertaken by the district administration to tackle any eventuality . He said besides meetings in this regard being held in May itself , the Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir had visited and inspected all vulnerable spots, following which flood protection works were carried out on a war footing . He said due to these measures, the situation had always remained under control. |
Woman held with poppy husk JALANDHAR, July 22 — The district police has arrested two persons, including a woman for allegedly smuggling poppy husk and has recovered 1750 kg of contraband from them. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said the police received information that a consignment of poppy husk smuggled from Rajasthan was to be unloaded in a secluded place on the outskirts of Haripur village. A raid was conducted by a police party headed by Mr Jatinder Singh, DSP, which led to the arrest of Piaro, a resident of Rama Mandi, and Makhan Singh, a resident of Uchhi Bassi in Hoshiarpur district. One of their accomplices escaped. Mr Yadav said the consignment was to be distributed in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts by Piaro, who had deserted her husband and was living with one Surinder Singh of Daroli village. A case has been registered. The district police also arrested three persons on the charge of defrauding banks and duping local publishers to the tune of Rs 6.64 lakh by using forged demand drafts. Mr Yadav said Ramesh Kumar, alias Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Sonpur in Bihar, had placed orders with five local publishers for the supply of books and issued bank drafts against the cost. The drafts were purportedly issued by the Lal Ganj (Bihar) branch of the State Bank of India. After the supply of books, the publishers sent these drafts to banks for reconciliation, but these were found to be part of drafts stolen from the SBI’s Parwalpur
(Patna) branch. Mr Yadav said it was detected that the consignment was taken by Rakesh Kumar under a fictitious company. While Rakesh Kumar has gone underground, three of his accomplices identified as Deepu
Mahto, Minto Mahto, residents of Bharat Mata Asthan in Muzaffarpur, and Surinder Kumar, a resident of Golaband road,
Muzaffarpur, had been arrested. |
Punjabi
University revises admission schedule PATIALA, July 22 — The Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor in anticipation of the approval of the Academic-Council has revised the schedule for admission to the University Teaching Departments. As per the revised schedule the students can seek admission without late fee up to July 26 with late fee of Rs 400 up to August 2, with late fee of Rs 800 and with the permission of the Vice-Chancellor up to August 10 and with late fee of Rs 1500 and approval of the council up to August 18. According to a press note of the university issued here yesterday. Meanwhile results of B. Com part-I, M.A. Urdu part-I, M.A. Urdu part-II, LL.M. part-II, and honours school courses in science part-II conducted by Punjabi University in April/May, 2000, would be declared on July 24. |
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School in memory of
accident victims GIDDERBAHA, July 22 — Mata Sahib Kaur Convent School, set up in memory of those children who were killed in a rail-van collision on January 28, was today inaugurated by Mr Raj Mohinder Singh Majethia, MP. Mr Manpreet Badal, MLA, who presided over the function, said Rs 11 lakh was given by Mr Majethia for the development of the school. Orphans would be imparted education free of cost while those children who had lost their fathers would be charged negligible fee. |
Coop bank clarifies CHANDIGARH, July 22 — The management of the Punjab State Cooperative Bank claims that they had constituted a committee for recommending the purchase of computers, and this committee, with the prior approval of the management, called the tenders directly from the branch offices (BOs) of various multinational companies (MNCs). This is in context with a news item which appeared in these columns under the heading Rs 30, 000 computers for Rs 4. 5 lakh on July 6. Mr A.K. Batta, DGM (System) in a statement said this practice of directly calling tenders from the BOs of MNCs was adopted because the bank wanted only the computers of the highest quality keeping in view the critical mission activity of the bank. They were bought from the lowest tendered by a high level committee in a most transparent manner. He contends that the money was not paid to non - existent companies like Spectra Technologies which is a channel partner of IBM and Cybex Technologies which is a channel partner of Wipro Limited. Although computers are available for Rs 20,000 in the market depending on the configuration and quality, no computer was bought at the cost of Rs 4.5 lakh but a server was purchased for Rs 4.05 lakh. The bank had purchased computers worth Rs 80.06 lakh for its branches at Chandigarh only. Rest of the computers worth Rs 40 lakh were purchased by the bank on the basis of demands and resolutions passed by their respective Board of Directors received from the Central Cooperative Banks. He states the purchases were not cleared by Mr K.S. Pannu, AMD (A) but by their respective MDs, the DGM added. |
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