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| Monday, August 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
Capt Kanwaljit for financial autonomy 5 of family get life term for murder Strengthen Central
authority on defence: CPM Steep auditorium charges keep away art directors
LPG distributors flay govt move
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Creating awareness by street plays Three hurt in accident Pul Kanjri mela concludes NRIs’ role
lauded Yatri Niwas for Kup Kalan
Candidates allege
mass copying MBBS student’s
plea allowed
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Capt Kanwaljit for financial autonomy LONGOWAL (Sangrur), Aug 20 — Paying rich tributes to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal at a state-level function on his 15th death anniversary here today, almost all the main speakers criticised the Congress governments at the Centre for not implementing the Rajiv-Longowal Accord. The leaders also touched upon issues like GATT, Centre-state relations, Centre’s attitude towards genuine demands of Punjab, proposals of the eleventh Finance Commission and Sunam byelection etc. Thin attendance at today’s function made it clear that the death anniversary of Sant Longowal is losing its charm gradually. Today’s gathering was described as less than last year’s. It is worth mentioning here that no Punjab BJP minister was seen on the dais and the only party leader present was Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, president of the Punjab BJP. Though it was widely publicised by the state government that Mr Shanta Kumar, Mr Suresh Prabhu, both Union Ministers; Mr Madan Lal Khurana, MP; Mr Venkatiya Naidu, National General Secretary of the BJP; and Mr Yerrum Naidu, a leader of the Telegu Desam Party, would attend the function they did not turn up. However, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, a former Union Minister and Mr Syed Shah Nawaj Hussain, Union Minister of State for Sports, attended the function. Lashing out at the Congress, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, said the Congress had always been unjust to Punjab and spurned its genuine demands like transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, Punjab’s right on river waters and more financial powers to the State. He said the Congress also betrayed Punjab and the Punjabis by not implementing the Rajiv-Longowal Accord. Mr Badal also criticised the proposals of the Eleventh Finance Commission as being against the prosperous states of the country like Punjab. He said an equal share of Central assistance should be given to all states without discrimination. He appreciated the BJP government for constituting the Nanawati Commission to probe anti-Sikh 1984 riots and forming a Constitution Review Commission. Addressing the gathering, Mrs Sushma Swaraj described Sant Longowal as ‘Yug Pursh’ and said he sacrificed his life for bringing peace to the state. She also accused the Congress of not implementing Rajiv-Longowal Accord and betraying the Punjabis and assured the Chief Minister that all genuine demands of the state would be sorted out amicably by the Union Government. Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister for Sports, speaking on the occasion, said that the SAD-BJP alliance had ushered in a new era of peace and prosperity in the state as dreamt of by Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. Mr Syed Shah Nawaj Hussain, Union Minister of State for Sports, also paid tributes to Sant Longowal. Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, former Union Minister, demanded deemed University status for the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) at Longowal. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Punjab, said the time had come to give financial autonomy to the states and review Centre-State relations as a whole. Prominent among others who spoke on the occasion were Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the SGPC; Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, Mr Gobind Singh Kanjhla, Mr Natha Singh Dalam, Mr Gobind Singh Longowal, all Punjab Ministers; Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, president of the Punjab BJP; Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi, a senior SAD leader; Mr Baldev Singh Mann, AM (PSEB) and Mr Balwinder Singh
Bhunder, MP. |
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5 of family get life term for murder KAPURTHALA, Aug 20 — In an unusual case of murder, Mr Gurdev Singh, Sessions Judge sentenced Jit Ram, his three sons Jagir Singh, Kashmir Singh, Balbir Singh and his grandson Sukhwinder Singh to undergo life imprisonment on the charge of beating to death one Sucha Singh of Marrypur village. According to the prosecution, on January 3, 1998, the accused and deceased were shoveling sand from the land by tractor trailer from the fields of a farmer of Marrypur village when the deceased claimed the accused had stolen two of his spades. This led to a scuffle, and at the intervention of residents the quarrel was stopped and the dispute was referred to the village panchayat. On January 24, 1998, both parties appeared before the panchayat where Sucha Singh again accused the others of stealing his spades. Following this, in a fit of anger, the family members beat up Sucha Singh violently, leading to his death on the spot. The police had registered a case following a complaint by the victim’s son. |
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Strengthen Central
authority on defence: CPM CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The Punjab unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), at its convention here, advocated strengthening of the centre’s authority on defence, foreign affairs (including foreign trade), currency and communications. The CPM wants that remaining subjects, which are not on the concurrent list, should be transferred to states where State Legislatures should have powers to make laws about them. The party wanted that Article 248 of the Constitution be amended accordingly. It further said that Article 249 under which the Centre had powers to frame laws in areas under jurisdiction of states should be abolished. It also wanted that Articles 356 and 357 of the Constitution should also be abolished. The CPM said that Article 360 used by the President to dismiss an elected government in a state for economic instability should also be abolished. It wanted that Articles 200 and 201 under which it is not obligatory for a Governor to recommend to the President a resolution passed by the state Assembly, should also be abolished. |
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Steep auditorium charges keep away art directors PATIALA, Aug 20 — Refurbished mainly to create a more congenial atmosphere for theatre groups, the auditorium in the Central State Library here has had the opposite effect. It is no longer the favourite of theatre directors who find its stiff charges a dampener and keep away from it. The move has not shifted theatre to some other auditorium in the city. In fact it has only resulted in fewer theatre performances in the city, which has a rich tradition of theatre with Om Puri, Raj Babbar and Harpal Tiwana spending their formative theatre years here. The auditorium is witnessing few theatre performances with only one or two performances held every month as art directors plead for a reduction in the auditorium charges. Presently, those who hire the auditorium have to pay Rs 5,000 as electricity charges, which covers the cost of air conditioning , Rs 2,000 as security and Rs 300 as maintenance charges, besides cleaning charges. A single show in the auditorium usually costs Rs 6,000 if the breakage is not taken into account, which theatre directors said had discouraged them from holding performances in the auditorium. The prices have been increased since 1992 when the auditorium was given a new look. Theatre directors said the refurbishing of the auditorium and the installation of air conditioning had worked to their disadvantage as they were charged for air conditioning whether they used the facility or not. Progressive Democratic Club president Gian Khakhar said Rs 5,000 was taken as air conditioning charges during the summer months and Rs 3,500 was taken as electricity charges per performance in winters when air conditioning was not used. He said theatre groups had been trying to get this extra charge waived for five years but had been unsuccessful. Air conditioning is not the only problem facing theatre directors. They said the quality of sound service and lighting is also poor and not conducive to serious theatre. The National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS) chairman Pran Sabharwal said the sound system was not in order and created unnecessary noise. He said usually there was no responsible person to ensure proper functioning of the sound and light systems during performances. Mr Sabharwal said other facilities in the auditorium were not proper. He said one green room was stuffed with hoardings while the other did not have a functional fan. The basement was not properly lighted and did not have ventilation, hindering the movement of artists from one side to the other beneath the stage. Other directors said there were problems in booking. Veteran director Prem Handa said the booking procedure was very cumbersome, where by an application has to be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, who marks it to the police. Later it goes through many hands before permission is granted. Manipal Tiwana, who is the son of theatre personality Harpal Tiwana, and has now taken over his father‘s theatre company, said the hiring rates of the auditorium should be reduced for new theatre groups. He said new groups had no other option but to pay the steep charges in case they wanted to perform in the city. The Central State Library In-charge Satnam Singh Ahluwalia said the library had no option but to take these prices as it could not meet the expenditure otherwise. He said theatre performances in the library worked out at around one or two every month. He said the Punjab State Electricity Board charged an average bill of Rs 6,000 per month from the library on the basis of its load. He said the library was barely able to meet the bill besides other expenses. Air conditioning charges could not be waived off due to the flat electricity bills received by the library. Theatre groups have meanwhile requested the district administration that they be given the auditorium on rent at subsidised rates besides urging for the conversion of the little-used lecture hall in the Central Library into a mini theatre for smaller audiences. |
LPG distributors flay govt move PATIALA, Aug 20 — Licensees of Patiala Gas, which is distributing cooking gas from its godown in Lehal, today said land should be earmarked for the LPG distributors outside the city by the state government if it did not want their godowns to operate from present sites. In a statement here, the agency licensees said their godown was functioning from Lehal since 1982. They said it was not possible for them to shift from one place to another as building of a gas godown and creating necessary safety measure involved a lot of money. Meanwhile, Mr Jaidev Singh, convener of the LPG Distributors Federation in the district, said the recent move of the district administration to disallow tractor-trailers to bring LPG cylinders from the godowns of the distributors to the city, would inconvenience the public.  |
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Creating awareness by street plays NAWANSHAHR: After the successful completion of the total literacy campaign, the district Literacy Society has been setting new trends in successful implementation of the reproductive and child health and family welfare programme (RCH), which is aimed at creating awareness among the masses about population control, AIDS, environmental pollution and general health and sanitation habits in the district by organising street plays, cultural programmes, seminars, talks and lectures by experts, medical check-up and vaccination camps in the villages to mobilise the people. Besides, the government’s self-employment schemes are also being propagated to create an awareness among unemployed youth about the various schemes and loan facilities on self-employment ventures being provided by agencies. The Literacy Society in collaboration with the health, education, rural development, CDPO departments and a number of social and cultural organisations has chalked out a comprehensive programme of organising ‘‘chetna samagams’’ in urban and rural areas of the district. So far, the society has organised ‘‘awareness programmes’’ at Jullah Majra, Garh Padhana, Mukandpur, Wajidpur, Lidher Kalan, Saroya, Karimpur Chahwala, Chandpur Rurki, Sahiba, Mehandpur, Nawanshahr, Banga, Balachaur, Nurpur, Nojewal Mazara, Palli Jhikki, Nagra, Kishanpur, Chakdana, Rakkeran Dhahan and Mujjafarpur villages. The society would organise awareness programmes at Jeendowal, Nighi, Laroya, Malewal, Mirpur Jattan, Khatkar Kalan, Kathgarh, Shekhupur, Sighpur, Jadla, Kariha, Mutton, Garhi Ajit Singh, Katwara, Langroya, Kaleran, Tapprian, Aur and Chaniani Khurd villages this month for which senior officials of different departments have been put on duty. Besides, Kala Jathas (Cultural teams) specially trained for the purpose stage street plays and doctors deliver lectures on topics relating to the care of pregnant women and children. Dr Roshan Sunkaria, Deputy Commissioner who heads the Literacy Society, says it is the first district in Punjab which had given new dimension to the execution of the RCH programme by linking it with the Literacy Society. He said the main stress was being given on creating awareness among the masses regarding the problem of population explosion, the biggest denominator in the country’s development process. Even Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had expressed grave concern over the population explosion during the Chief Ministers’ meeting and a comprehensive strategy was being chalked out at the national level to combat the problem. He is of the view that educating the masses is the best strategy for it. School syllabi should be reoriented towards creating an awareness about such problems so that the need to launch special drives should not arise. About the success of the unique endeavour, Dr Roshan Sunkaria says the Literacy Society is a movement of the people, for the people and by the people. The role of administration is just to remove hindrances and to provide a proper infrastructure. Hence its success fully depended on the wholehearted cooperation of the people. For making it a mass movement, he would try to involve more and more people and NGOs in the awareness drive currently under way, the Deputy Commissioner added. Three hurt in accident NABHA, Aug 20 — Three persons were hurt, one of them
seriously in an accident involving four vehicles, near the Rohti bridge, 4 km from here, at about 12.15 p.m. today,
Mr Kuldeep Singh Bhattal, a brother of Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Chief Minister, Punjab was also among the injured. According to an eyewitness, Mr Bhattal along with two others was coming from Nabha in his Maruti Esteem. He made an unsuccessful attempt to overtake a bus which was also going towards Patiala, and the driver of the car lost his balance and it hit a Tata Sumo coming from the opposite side. The three occupants of Sumo received minor injuries. The Esteem then got entangled with a milk tanker which dragged it to a distance of about 50 feet while tearing it into pieces. Later, the three occupants of the car, Mr Kuldeep Bhattal, Mr Kedar Nath and Mr Ved Prakash were admitted to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, where the condition of Mr Ved Prakash is stated to be serious. |
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Pul Kanjri mela concludes PUL KANJRI (Indo-Pak border), Aug 20 — Pul Kanjri a tiny village situated on the Indo-Pak border
en route to Lahore (Pakistan) held its annual fair today. The story of this little hamlet goes back to the times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who had built a ‘baradari’ (12-door house) where he used stay
en route to Lahore. A 12-foot wide canal flowed along side it which residents believed carried water from Kahnuwan (Chhamb) to the Shalimar gardens in Lahore. A ‘kanjri’ (dancer) of the day named ‘Moran’ used to dance at the darbar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Once on her way to dance at the Maharaja’s Baradari her shoes fell into the canal. The piqued dancer refused to dance until a ‘pul’ bridge was built on the canal. When built, the bridge was named after Moran as “Pul Kanjri”, and the village subsequently developed into a large trading centre. Residents of the small town are proud that their ancestors helped their Muslim neighbours and others cross to Pakistan and saved them from frenzied mobs in 1947. Despite this marauders attacked the village on August 22, 1947 slaughtering nearly 250 persons, abducting over 100 girls and setting the town afire. The town was rebuilt as a village but was captured in the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and remained with Pakistan until it was recaptured in the 1971 war, when a fierce battle known as “Battle of Pul Kanjri” was fought here. A memorial was raised in memory of the brave Jawans who laid down their life for the village and an annual mela is held here to mark the event. |
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NRIs’ role
lauded HOSHIARPUR, Aug 20 — Mr Balbir Singh Miani, Minister of State for Higher and Medical Education, Punjab,Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy
Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, and Mr Sohan Singh Bodal, MLA, inaugurated a special workshop organised by the District Literacy Committee, office of the NRIs Sabha and the Cutting and Tailoring Centre, respectively, at Mirjapur Khadiala village, about 35 km from here, last evening. Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Mr Sidhu appreciated the role of NRIs in the development of their respective areas. He said development works worth Rs 50 crore were being carried out by NRIs in the district. He said 40 offices of the District NRIs Sabha were being opened in villages for the benefit of their families. He said 10 offices had already been opened. He also distributed certificates to 15 girls who had completed their sewing and tailoring training at a centre at Nainowal Vaid village. He announced Rs 25,000 for the completion of the building of the tailoring centre. |
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Yatri Niwas for Kup Kalan MALERKOTLA, Aug 20 — Haryana Governor Babu Parma Nand laid the foundation stone of yatri niwas at Kup Kalan village, 10 km from here today. The yatri niwas will be constructed at a cost of Rs one crore and will have around 30 rooms with all the necessary public health amenities. The yatri niwas is being constructed by the Vimal Sanmati Charitable Trust, Kup Kalan in the premises of Aadishwar Dhaam. Speaking at the 77th birthday celebrations of Jain Acharya Sri Vimal Muni Ji Maharaj, the Governor said that the Jain Muni has devoted his whole life to spread the message of non-violence, truth, brotherhood, communal harmony and peace. The Governor and his wife, Ms Sudesh Kumari, sought the blessings of Sri Vimal Ji Maharaj. Master Mohan Lal, Minister for Higher Education, Punjab also participated in the foundation stone laying function. |
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Petroleum dealers
welcome decision AMRITSAR, Aug 20 — The President of the Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association, Mr J.P. Khanna, has welcomed the decision of the Chandigarh Administration to increase sales tax on petroleum products and bring it on a par with that of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The petrol dealers of Punjab have suffered substantial loss during the past two years due to disparity in rates. |
Candidates allege
mass copying JALANDHAR, Aug 20 — The local APJ College for Fine Arts came into sharp criticism when candidates from various districts of the state, who participated in the MIT entrance test here today, blamed the college authorities for mass copying during the test. Several candidates sat on a dharna in front of the college and raised slogans against the college authorities, according to a press note. “The Guru Nanak Dev University staff deputed for the fair conduct of the entrance test were seen sitting in the Principal’s Office throughout the test and mass cheating was going on in the examination centre” alleged Mr Harjinder Singh a candidate from Amritsar. Another candidate, Mr Vishal Kochhar, hailing from Ludhiana, blamed the authorities for not displaying the merit list before the start of counselling for admission to the course. The students demanded that the MIT entrance test should be conducted afresh. However, the college authorities were not available for comments. |
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MBBS student’s
plea allowed CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 —Mr Justice R.L. Anand of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the decision of Shri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, allotting paid seat to petitioner Mr Vishal Brar, a student of MBBS at the institute, while he had qualified for a free seat. The petitioner had applied for admission to the MBBS course and took the combined entrance test conducted by Punjabi University. Though his name figured in free seats for general category on October 23, 1998, he was not given admission against free seats on the ground that the institute had offered five free seats to rural candidates. The Judge, while allowing the petition observed that if respondent No. 3 had to make any provision for rural candidates, it must intimate to the university which can in turn incorporate the provision in the prospectus issued by it. The Judge directed the refund of excess fee with interest which was charged from the petitioner against a paid seat and held the action of the respondent as arbitrary and illegal. |
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