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| Saturday, August 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
Syndicate opposes govt move Punjab to have new excise policy Sikh commission adjourns hearing Fake notes seized from former SBI cashier Candlelight vigil
at Wagah cancelled |
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Cong men
clash at DCC meeting
Cong minority cell chairman
More promotion quota for
JEs: Badal Police remand in
embezzlement case PUDA offers plots in Patiala Urban Estate Abuse by parents
may have forced children to flee Land at reserve price: IMA hails decision
Health staff to boycott FP work
‘Samman patras’ for
morcha activists
Man kills daughter, paramour Fake licences
seized, 8 held Amritsar resident gets 15 yrs’ RI
under NDPS Act Gang with a syringe
strikes terror
Punjabi
University centre set up in USA ‘Dental college overcharging fees’ School in unsafe building
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Syndicate opposes govt move AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The move by the Director, Public Instructions (Colleges), to impose restrictions on universities and colleges on starting new courses was opposed tooth and nail at the Syndicate meeting of Guru Nanak Dev University here today. Mr G.P.S. Sahi, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, was also present. Mr Ashwani Sharma, a syndic and President of the Federation of Principals of Punjab and Chandigarh, said the Punjab Government was interfering in the working of colleges in order to curtail the autonomy of universities. The DPI (Colleges), Mr H.S. Deol, found himself in a spot after the announcement that the colleges would have to seek a no-objection certificate from the DPI before launching new courses. However, Principal Sharma insisted that it was the prerogative of universities to decide which courses could be started. Interestingly, a record 25 new courses, especially relating to information technology, were introduced in 60 private colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University during the current academic year. However, not a single course could be started in any of the government colleges in the state. Private colleges earned about Rs 30 crore by admitting more than 20,000 students to these courses. In yet another significant decision, the Syndicate deputed Dean, Students Welfare, and Mr Ashwani Sharma, Principal, Doaba College, to put up suggestions for increasing the retirement age of college lecturers and principals to 62 as per recommendations of the University Grants Commission. They will submit their suggestions at the next meeting of the Syndicate. The Syndicate members agreed in principle that the academic session should be of 180 days in colleges as per the UGC recommendations. They also agreed to reduce the number of holidays. However, Mr Sharma said the recommendations of the UGC could not be implemented piecemeal. Meanwhile, the university has decided to celebrate the 400 years of Guru Granth Sahib
Parkash Utsav in 2004. In this connection, it has started a special research project “encyclopaedia on Sri Guru Granth Sahib” which will be of 1500-2000 pages to be completed in four volumes in four years. The Syndicate, which met here today, accorded its approval to the project. Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor, who presided over the meeting, said an eminent Sikh scholar and a retired professor of Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Rattan Singh Jaggi, had been awarded a fellowship for two years for this project. Mr G.P.S. Sahi, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Punjab, favoured honouring coaches and players of the university who had contributed towards lifting the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Trophy. |
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Punjab to have new excise policy CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — The Punjab Government will come out with a new excise policy soon. The existing policy is inadequate to deal with matters pertaining to the licensing of bottling plants, distilleries and breweries, according to the state government authorities concerned. Informed official sources said that the draft of the new policy was being finalised and it would soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval. The government is of the view that licences should be issued to only those companies which are interested in setting up their units in remote underdeveloped areas like the Kandi region and the Malwa belt. As many as 20 applications are pending with the government from companies interested in setting up distilleries in the state. The government has issued letters of intent (LOI) to eight companies for setting up bottling plants. According to official sources, three of these plants will be located at Dera Bassi. The others will be located at Batala (Gurdaspur), Fazilka (Ferozepore), Nawanshahr and Patiala. Earlier, the government had issued letter’s of intent to three companies for setting up distilleries. The pending applications will only be disposed of after the framing of the new excise policy, it is learnt. Meanwhile, the committee headed by Mr Tikshan Sood, Minister of State for Excise and Taxation, has approved the charging of 50 paise per litre from breweries for preparing beer in addition to their licensed quota. Two breweries — one located near Dera Bassi and other near Ludhiana — had a licensed capacity of preparing 50,000 hectolitres of beer. But both these breweries were preparing beer above their licensed capacity. In the absence of the appropriate rules, the Excise and Taxation Department authorities used to levy a fine of Rs 10,000 for exceeding the licensed limit. However, with the approval of the rate of 50 paise per litre, the department would earn about Rs 75 lakh while earlier it used to earn only Rs 20,000 from both breweries in the form of fine. It is worth investigating why earlier the department authorities did not bring such a serious shortcoming to the notice of the state government and only confined itself to imposing an insignificant fine on breweries violating the licensed limit, said a senior functionary of the state government. When the matter came to the notice of the state government that breweries were exceeding their licensed limit and paying only a nominal fine, it took serious note of it and ordered action against them. After this action the committee was set up under the chairmanship of Mr Sood. Informed sources said that now no upper limit had been fixed by this committee. The breweries concerned had been allowed to brew as much beer as they wanted but they would have to pay extra charges fixed by the committee for each litre above the licensed capacity. |
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Sikh commission adjourns hearing AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The three-member Sikh Gurdwara judicial Commission today adjourned till August 17 the hearing on an application for an interim order for recovery of Rs 10 lakh along with 18 per cent interest from the SGPC president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, for incurring expenditure on the purchase of air tickets and other expenses of the delegates for attending the World Religion Conference in South Africa. The application was moved by the senior vice-president of the Sarb Hind Youth Akali Dal, Mr Satpal Singh Wadali. The date for hearing of the application was fixed for today against Bibi Jagir Kaur, the SGPC secretary, Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, and three others. The date for hearing of the application was fixed for today but as counsel for the respondents expressed his inability to file a reply today the commission directed the respondents to file a reply at the next hearing. The application had pleaded that the SGPC was likely to lose this money due to uncertainty regarding Bibi Jagir Kaur continuing to stay in office and the likely retirement of Dr Bachan. The commission, consisting of Mr Manmohan Singh Brar, Chairman, and Mr Amrik Singh Randhawa and Mr Ajwant Singh Mann, members, observed no order could be issued on this application till receipt of the reply from the respondents. The judicial commission in the meantime extended till further orders its stay which restrained the SGPC from paying salaries to the 243 new employees recruited “illegally” during the tenure of Bibi Jagir Kaur during the period from March 16 to October 31 last year. The case was, however, adjourned till August 17 for want of a reply from the respondents. The application which was moved by the SHSAD activist, Mr Hardev Singh, on July 28 took the plea that these employees were inducted in the SGPC illegally by Bibi Jagir Kaur, the SGPC secretary and two others by flouting service rules, including ascertaining their minimum age, and that no person could be taken into the employment of the SGPC without proper advertisement in newspapers. He had further pleaded that no relative of the present SGPC staff could be taken as an SGPC employee in keeping with the rules. Counsel for the petitioner told the court that unmindful of his petition against such appointments the respondents had further employed 220 persons after October 31 last year as mentioned in the main petition. |
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Fake notes seized from former SBI cashier SANGRUR, Aug 11 — The Sunam police has seized counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 2,81,100
along with a computerised counterfeit currency notes making machine and other material allegedly from Dev Raj, a former cashier in the Sunam branch of the State Bank of India. In a press note here today, Mr Jatinder Singh
Aulakh, SSP, Sangrur, said a police party under the supervision of the Sunam DSP, Mr Pritpal Singh, apprehended Dev Raj of Chhajli
village, now residing at
Sunam, in a Maruti car the previous day. During a search of the car counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 60,000 (100 notes of Rs 500 each denomination and 100 notes of Rs 100 denomination) had been seized by the police. The SSP further added that during interrogation of Dev Raj more counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 2,21,100 had also been seized from his residence. These counterfeit currency notes were also of Rs 100 and Rs 500 denominations. Mr Aulakh also said besides the counterfeit currency notes the police had also seized one computerised counterfeit currency note making machine, a huge quantity of paper of manufacturing counterfeit currency notes in crores and other implements from Dev Raj’s residence. The SSP said Dev Raj, a cashier in the State Bank of India at
Sunam, had also been booked previously in a fraud case committed in the bank. |
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Candlelight vigil
at Wagah cancelled AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The proposed candlelight vigil to be held at Wagah on the intervening night of August 14 and 15 to foster relations between people of India and Pakistan has been dropped for the second year in a row in view of the strained Indo-Pak relations and the recent incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. A similar vigil was cancelled last year due to the Kargil conflict. Noted columnist and president of the Pak-Hind Dosti Forum, Kuldip Nayyar, who is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, conveyed this to the organisers in Amritsar today. Mr S.P. Singh, who is the convener in Amritsar, told TNS that, Mr Nayyar had dropped this programme in view of the large-scale killings by militant groups in Kashmir, specially after the withdrawal of ceasefire by the Hizbul Mujahideen. Taking serious view of the bomb blasts and grenade attacks in Srinagar yesterday in which 10 policemen and Mr Pardeep Bhatia, photojournalist of The Hindustan Times, were killed, Mr Nayyar made an appeal for people-to-people relations in both countries. Mr Nayyar, who was in the city on August 6 to make arrangements for the vigil, regretted they could not go ahead with the vigil under the present circumstances. |
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Strict vigil in
border areas AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The police is keeping a strict vigil in the border belts against smugglers, drug couriers and anti-national elements. It has begun verification of persons who purchased land along the Indo-Pakistan border in last five years. “This review is from the police angle”. SSP, Majitha, Mr Lok Nath Angra, stated here today. Besides this, verification of persons having ‘suspicious background’ have also been launched under the supervision of the DSP, Ajnala, he added. Meanwhile, during a drive against border-crossers, smugglers and drug couriers in July, four narcotics smugglers have been arrested and seven others have been sent to special police cell for interrogation. Mr Angra said the CIA staff, Majitha, had succeeded in arresting a gang of frauds during last month. The modus operandi of this gang was to load consumer goods from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and later they used to change the actual number plate of their trucks and instead of taking the goods to its destination they used to sell it fraudulently. Meanwhile, 134 persons were arrested in 133 different cases in a campaign against persons involved in distillation of illicit liquor and seized about 818 litres of illicit liquor and a large quantity of lahan. Seventeen working stills were also unearthed. In a campaign against anti-social elements and criminals 15 persons have been arrested. Four proclaimed offenders have also been nabbed. Two of these were at large since 1972 and 1990. The arrested persons have been identified as Sukhdev Singh of Timowal, Niranjan Singh of Behla, Niranjan Singh of Karmuwal and Major Tara Chand of Bringa
Mehla. |
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Cong men clash at DCC meeting PATIALA, Aug 11 — Rival groups in the District Congress Committee (Urban) today clashed at a meeting at its Chhoti Baradari office here after those opposed to its President, Mr Ved Prakash Gupta, opposed his style of functioning and highlighted his incompetence in implementing party programmes. Trouble began soon after the start of the meeting, which was held to chart out the programme for observance of Independence Day on August 15 and martyrdom day functions at Patiala on August 30 and at Payal village in Ludhiana on August 31. The dissidents in the DCC, headed by the Pradesh Congress Committee Organising Secretary, Mr Vishnu Sharma, took umbrage to the DCC Vice-President, Mr Gurjit Singh Guri, for conducting the stage in a partisan manner. According to sources, Mr Ved Prakash Gupta announced at the beginning of the meeting that this would be probably the last meeting of the unit as elections were to be held shortly. He urged members to speak only on the points listed in the agenda. Sources said the Punjab Mahila Congress Vice-President, Ms Satya Walia, and the DCC Mahila President, Ms Krishna Attari, made some observations on the style of functioning of Mr Gupta. Following this, DCC General Secretaries, Mr Brij Mohan Goel and Mr Narinder Lalli, got up to highlight the failures of the DCC President. They raised issues regarding party programmes not implemented by the DCC chief. The Stage Secretary forbade them from discussing any issues, saying these were not in the agenda. They refused to relent, following which there was a
slinging match and boisterous slogan-shouting. Following this, Congress workers of both groups were at each other's throats, with some of them scuffling publicly. As the disturbance started, the DCC chief adjourned the meeting. Later, talking to TNS, Mr Gupta said the meeting had been adjourned as all issues on the agenda had been discussed. He said the incident was a deliberate attempt by a few leaders who wanted to damage his image by creating disturbance in the DCC meeting to give the impression that he was not in control of the situation. He alleged that the incident was stage managed, with some newsmen having been alerted about it in advance. Mr Gupta said some leaders were also afraid that they would not be able to be elected in the forthcoming elections to the DCC and had wanted to embarrass him. He said he would submit a report regarding the incident to the Patiala MP, Ms Preneet Kaur, and the Pradesh Congress President, Capt Amarinder Singh. He said he would request that appropriate action be taken in the matter. Meanwhile, Mr Brij Mohan Goel said he had only raised pertinent issue troubling the minds of Congressmen and had been denied permission to do so. He said the DCC chief had failed to take any action despite an announcement following the desecration of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the city last year. He said similarly the DCC chief had failed to launch any agitation to get grievances against the Municipal Corporation addressed despite a clear-cut announcement. Sources said the real reason for the disturbance was the simmering differences between the DCC chief and the PPCC Organising Secretary, Mr Vishnu Sharma. Mr Sharma is also a candidate for the DCC presidentship. They said Mr Gupta's leadership had been attacked by Mr Sharma's men to get the ball rolling against the DCC chief in the party. |
Cong minority cell chairman CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — Mr Dilbar Mohd Khan has been appointed chairman of the minority cell of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, according to a party press release. Mr Khan’s appointment came after Ms Sonia Gandhi cleared his name. |
More promotion quota for
JEs: Badal CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, today announced enhancement of existing promotion quota for junior engineers from the ratio pattern of 80:20 to 70:30. Presiding over the “samman samaroh” organised by the Joint Action Committee of Junior Engineers of Punjab, Himachal and Chandigarh at the Tagore Theatre here, Mr Badal said engineers were the backbone of development and prosperity of a nation. He urged them to discharge their duties with devotion, hard work and honesty. Calling upon the JEs to curb the menace of corruption with a view to making the state prosperous, Mr Badal advised the engineers to make estimates of the projects with caution so that wasteful expenditure could be curtailed. Appreciating the positive role of the committee in getting its demands conceded through negotiations, he urged the other employee unions to follow suit and shun the agitational path. Among others, who spoke were Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Punjab Revenue Minister, Mr Sucha Singh Langah, Punjab PWD Minister, Mr Satya Pal Saini, MLA, Mr Amar Singh Randhawa and Mr Satnam Singh Dhanoa, convener and secretary-general, respectively of the committee. Meanwhile, in a memorandum to the Chief Minister the committee demanded introduction of pension schemes in the leftover boards and corporations of the state. It also demanded amendments in the service rules. Hike in the travelling allowance from Rs 480 to Rs 1,730, allowance on the pattern of SDEs and making 10-plus-two as eligibility condition for entry into diploma courses were the other demands listed in the memorandum.  |
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Police remand in
embezzlement case KHARAR, Aug 11 — Mr Roshan Lal Chauhan, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today remanded Jagdeep Singh Chauhan, Additional Director, Public Relations, Punjab, in police custody till August 13. Mr J.S. Chauhan was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on the charge of misappropriation of funds meant for the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations. Mr H.S. Rakkar, Assistant District Attorney, and Mr Zora Singh Brar, Inspector, Vigilance, informed the court that the accused gave benefits to Mangal Dhillon, producer of Khalsa film, by an amount of Rs 19 lakh as he paid Rs 30 lakh to him. They informed that the said film could have been prepared with an amount of Rs 11 lakh. This resulted in a loss of Rs 19 lakh to the state exchequer. They prayed for a police remand of seven days as information was yet to be collected from the accused about this money and about the other co-accused. The defence counsel, on the other hand, argued that a false case has been registered against his client and further submitted that if there was any misappropriation in the payment of funds for the said film, then some higher officials of the department were responsible for it. It is worth mentioning that the Vigilance Bureau has already registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 420 and 120 of the IPC in this connection. |
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PUDA offers plots in Patiala Urban Estate PATIALA, Aug 11 — The Punjab Urban Development Authority ( PUDA ), which has been unsuccessful in marketing flats in the city, is now gearing up to generate revenue by offering 253 free-hold residential plots in urban estate phase one and three. PUDA authorities disclosed that this would be the last chance for the public to get a residential plot in the urban estate through draw of lots. After this scheme ends, PUDA will auction the few plots still remaining with it. A major chunk of the plots being offered is in the phase one extension area. PUDA is aiming to develop a 25 acre pocket there which was being illegally occupied recently. This is likely to be a prestigious site on the Rajpura road near the ITBP pocket. The authority is planning to develop it as a posh colony and is offering 61 plots of 400 square yards in this pocket. 40 plots of 250 square yards are also being offered in the area at the rate of Rs 1938 per square yard. Additional Administrator of PUDA Arunjit Miglani told TNS that 27 plots were being offered in Phase One and 125 plots in Phase three Karheri farm. He said plots being offered in both the areas were of 250 and 300 square yards and the price was between Rs 1734 and Rs 1938 per square yard. He said the tentative price for a 200 square yard plot would be Rs 3.46 lakh, for a 250 square yard plot Rs 4.84 lakh, for a 300 square yard plot Rs 5.81 lakh and for a 400 square yard plot Rs 7.75 lakh. The PUDA officer said that in order to make the scheme attractive for the city residents, only those who owned property in the urban estate were barred from applying for the plot. He said earlier all residents of the city who owned property could not apply. Mr Miglani said other changes in the scheme included permission to mortgage the plots for obtaining loans for any purpose. Earlier plot owners could mortgage the plots only to take loans for paying installments to the Authority. He said the scheme would close on August 28. He said PUDA was trying to shore up its resources by offering land to the public. It has incurred a heavy loss by failing to sell around 44 HIG flats constructed by it in phase one. Many MIG flats constructed by it in the same phase are also lying unsold. |
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Land at reserve price: IMA hails decision PATIALA, Aug 11 — The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, has welcomed the Punjab Government’s decision to allot land at reserve price to medical institutions. Issuing a press note here today, the association president, Dr O.P. Singh Kande, said the offer should not be limited only to the super speciality medicare projects in the urban areas, but also to the primary and secondary health care systems in rural and semi-rural areas. Alleging the government’s failure to meet it’s constitutional obligation to provide health care to all the country’s citizen’s, Dr Kande said 80 per cent health care delivery system was being provided by the private sector health institutions, which was unaffordable by the middle and the poor class. Urging the government to come out with incentives for the private sector to establish health care centres in the rural and urban areas, the IMA said land at reduced prices, soft term loans for infrastructure and waiving off commercial charges on electricity and water were the thrust areas on which the government should emphasis. |
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Abuse by parents
may have forced children to flee AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — Child abuse is cited to be the reason behind the disappearance of five children from the city on August 6. The police traced the children in Katra, Jammu. A caller from Jammu informed Mrs Saroj Bala, a resident of Diamond Avenue here, of having seen the children who had been reported missing in newspapers. Mr Kewal Kumar, SP City, said preliminary investigations showed that the children had fled their home due to fear of being beaten up by their father. Sangita (12), Sunil Kumar (9), Amrit Lal (7), Malti (5), and Jyoti (3) are believed to be in an orphanage at R.S. Pora. On being questioned by the Katra police, they reportedly said that their parents were dead. The police has sent a team to Katra headed by ASI Naresh Kumar to bring back the children. On another occasion when the children were intercepted by a police party in Jammu, the children had claimed they were on their way to their paternal uncle’s house with the permission of their mother.
Health staff to boycott FP work CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — The Paramedical and Health Employees Union of Punjab today decided to boycott family planning work and other national health programmes up to August 31 in support of its demands. A press note issued by the union said the demands of the employees included the restoration of allowances and the grant of a revised pay scale of Rs 5800-9200 to staff nurses. It sought settlement of the 21-charter of demands. The press note added that if the demands were not settled at a meeting the union leaders would have with the Health Secretary on August 17, the employees would burn effigies of the Health Minister and the Finance Minister all over the
state.
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Badal’s appeal for
donations CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today appealed to all Punjabis to make donations to help the victims of the floods in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Badal urged the Punjabis to take the lead in mobilising resources in cash and kind for the flood victims. He also appealed to social organisations to donate clothes, blankets and other household articles for the flood-affected persons at special counters set up at Red Cross Bhavan in
Chandigarh and at the offices of the Deputy Commissioners. He also appealed to employees to donate one day’s salary for the noble cause.
CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — The Punjab Lotteries Department today held a function here to give away prizes to the winners of the Baisakhi Bumper draw-2000. A press note issued by the government said Mr Jagtar Singh, a resident of Thakarwal village in Ludhiana district and a postman, received the cheque for the first prize of Rs 1 crore.
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Implement
decision on shops: Samata AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The Punjab Samata Party has urged the Punjab Government to implement its decision asking municipal corporations in the state to dispose of its shops, sites and other properties to bona fide and lawful tenants at 40 per cent of market rates. Party’s vice-president Harish Vij and general secretary Dr J.S. Kumar in a joint statement said the decision was taken by the state Cabinet on July 5, but the municipal authorities had not yet received government instructions. |
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Society defers
demonstration FEROZEPORE, Aug 11 — Members of the city-based International Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society have decided to suspend its proposed demonstration against the controversial writer Gurbax Singh Kala Afghana outside the residence of the Akal Takht
Jathedar. Announcing this here today, the president of the society, Mr Harpal Singh
Bhullar, said the demonstration, slated for August 19 had been suspended following the Akal Takht Jathedar’s assurance that action would be taken against the writer.
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Anandgarh plan CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — Design competition for selecting the master architect for the Anandgarh project has begun. Dr Upinderjit Kaur, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Punjab, said the 10 shortlisted architects had been told to prepare the master plan for the new city. The architects had been provided dossier, including vision for the new city, and all technical details required by the architects taking for in the competition.
PHAGWARA, Aug 11 — Activists of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) led by its local unit president Gurdip Singh Saini today burnt the effigy of Pakistan intelligence agency ISI, took out a protest march in the town and staged a rally against yesterday’s bomb blast in Srinagar in which 11 persons, including a press photographer, were killed. Protesters raised slogans against Pakistan and its military ruler Gen Parvez Musharraf for aiding and abetting trans-border terrorism.
AIFUCTO meeting venue changed PHAGWARA, Aug 11 — The venue for the national executive meeting of AIFUCTO to be held on August 13 has been changed from Nawgaon (Assam) to Muzaffarpur (Bihar). This was stated by sources at the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation here yesterday. However, the date will remain same i.e. August 13.
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‘Samman patras’ for
morcha activists AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The Punjab Government has constituted district-level committees throughout the state under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners to scrutinise the cases and grant status and financial facilities to those who had undergone imprisonment during different agitations like in Emergency, Punjabi Suba Morcha, etc. Besides the Deputy Commissioner, other members of these committees are the SSPs and Superintendents of jails in each district. Giving this information here yesterday the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinderjit Singh, said here that the government proposes to give “samman patras” to all those persons who had participated in these morchas and were imprisoned for more than three months, while those who had undergone imprisonment for more than six months and beyond would be given financial assistance of Rs 300 per month. Instructions are also being issued that these persons should be given due respect in all government offices and given priority in disposing of the complaints. They will also be given invitations for the Independence Day and Republic Day functions at the district level. The persons eligible should apply to their respective SDMs on a prescribed proforma which is available at the SDM offices. The Deputy Commissioner made it clear that this new scheme has no concern with the scheme of freedom fighters. |
Man kills daughter, paramour BARNALA, Aug 11 — Charan Singh, a resident of Chananwal village, about 15 km from here, killed his daughter Gurjeet Kaur and her paramour Daljit Singh, alias Kaka, with a “gandasa” after having been provoked following the development of an illicit relationship between his daughter and Daljit at his house. A case under Section 302, IPC, against Charan Singh has been registered at Shehna police station. Giving details of this double murder case, Mr Ajaib Singh Kaleka, Senior Superintendent of Police, Barnala police district, disclosed here today that the accused Charan Singh had to resort to this drastic measure as he was feeling let down because of the development of illicit relationship between Gurjeet and Daljit who were keen to go in for a court marriage.
Fake licences
seized, 8 held AMRITSAR, Aug 11 — The police has arrested a gang of eight persons and seized fake licences, vehicle registration certificates (RCs), Schedule Caste certificates and other fake official documents. The eight arrested belong to this district. Besides a bulk of printed fraudulent forms of various government departments, 80 partly prepared licences, and official stamps — two of the stamps were of District Transport Office, one of a licencing authority of Tarn Taran, an official stamp of SDM, Tarn Taran, Mr J.P.S. Sahota, and one stamp of tehsildar, Amritsar — were seized from them. They used to forge signatures of various officials of different departments and did forged attestation of certificates, vehicular licences, Schedule Castes certificates, licences and other documents. Jagdish used a computer to print ‘official’ forms for assorted official documents. Baldev Singh and Narinder Singh lured customers for these forged documents and charged large sums of money. All eight have been booked under Sections 467, 420, 487, 468, 471, IPC. |
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Amritsar resident gets 15 yrs’ RI
under NDPS Act CHANDIGARH, Aug 11 — A city court today sentenced Amritsar resident Gurvinder Singh to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment on charges under the NDPS Act. The accused was also directed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh. He was sentenced to undergo further RI of two years in case of default in the payment of the fine. The accused was earlier booked under Section 21of the NDPS Act, along with Sunil Kumar in 1997. They were intercepted at a Palsora naka by the police while they were coming from Punjab to Chandigarh in a van. The police recovered 9.165 kg of smack worth Rs 9 crore from them. Sunil Kumar died during the proceedings of the case. The judge, while holding that the offence was serious, observed that punishment had to be awarded as a preventive
measure. |
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Gang with a syringe
strikes terror JALANDHAR, Aug 11 — A gang which forcibly stops scooterists and motor cyclists, injects them with a substance and flees has created a panic among residents of nearby townships and villages. The gang is active on link roads of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts, but none of the victims in the past one week has developed any health problem. All three victims, two from Phillaur and one from Nurmahal, are terrified since the doctors who attended on them have reportedly failed to detect any damage caused by the injection. According to police sources, two scooterists, a male and a female, were waylaid by two scooter-borne persons two days back and were forcibly injected with a substance. Both were hospitalised but with no harm done. |
Punjabi
University centre
set up in USA PATIALA,
Aug 11 — Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, while addressing the faculty at the Arts Auditorium today said during the past year the outstanding achievements of the university had been the restoration of amity, peace and mutual trust among the teachers and employees. Dr Ahluwalia said the university had already established the first-ever university campus in the USA for Punjabi studies. The Vice-Chancellor urged the faculty to actively participate in the various academic, research and cultural activities which have been planned for the coming year. |
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‘Dental college overcharging fees’ PATIALA,
Aug 11 — Parents of students Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College Ludhiana, have lodged a complaint against overcharging of fees at the time of admission by the authority. In a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Science, the aggrieved parents said management of the college was charging the tuition fee of Rs 18,000 per annum as against Rs 11,000 per annum which was the fee structure notified by the Punjab Government. The hostel fee being charged is double the amount, the letter said. Besides this, the college demands an amount of Rs 35,000 under the category of miscellaneous. |
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School in unsafe building GURDASPUR: The local deaf and dumb school, inaugurated with great fanfare by Mr Arjun Singh, the then Governor of Punjab, on May 5, 1987, continues to suffer from gross neglect. The school building, donated by Ms Raj Rulia Ram, has developed cracks and been declared unsafe for human habitation. But the school continues to function in the dilapidated building endangering the lives of students and school staff. A report on the said school was carried in this daily about a year ago and the then Deputy Commissioner sanctioned Rs 70,000 for its repair. The money was spent without bringing any visible improvement to the building. An inquiry by an independent agency regarding expenditure on the building can reveal the truth and bring the guilty to the book. Whether an inquiry would be ordered is anybody’s guess. At present the school has 21 students on its rolls. As many as six students joined this year but a equal number had to be refused admission due to the absence of a hostel. The school had a strength of 33 students in 1995 when the school had made arrangements for a hostel. According to social workers, there is a lot of demand for admission to the school and the number of students can easily swell to over 70, if a hostel is built. The school has no bathroom either for students or for school staff and they use open space, which has wild growth, in front of the school in this regard. The small path leading to the school has been lost in wild growth. A visitor has to confirm the route from nearby dwellers before finding the way to the school. The school has only 15 hearing aids, which have stopped working a long time ago. The management has never bothered to meet the requirements of the students in this regard. The teacher in charge of the school received training long ago for manufacturing earmoulds as an alternative for hearing aids at much cheaper rates. But in view of the absence of a laboratory, the training has not been utilised so far. The school has just five employees which included the school head, crafts teacher, two assistants and part-time sweeper, who are paid consolidated monthly salaries. The Union Ministry of Social Welfare, which contributes 90 per cent of the school expenses, has recommended a much higher pay for the school head and crafts teacher but in vain so far. The staff has not been paid salary pending for several months for three years. The school was earlier shifted to the Red Cross building but had to be reverted to the old building, where it is functioning at present due to the absence of bathroom facilities at the Red Cross building. The school was allowed to shift to the old building by the school head, official sources said. |
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