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PUDA adopts 444.25-cr
budget Chandigarh, February 27 A formal decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of PUDA presided over by the Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur. Dr Upinderjit Kaur, who is also Chairperson of PUDA, stated that the budget marked a handsome increase of 27.25 per cent over the current year’s figures. She stated that the budget was centered round two ambitious programmes. In the first place, PUDA intended to undertake the construction of district administrative complexes at an estimated cost of Rs 105 crore. The districts included Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Bathinda, Moga, Gurdaspur and Sangrur. Secondly, the area in focus was the acquisition and development of five new sectors of SAS Nagar. While the compensation amount to the land owners would be funded from the provisions of the current year, Rs 120 crore had been earmarked for the internal and external development of these sectors. The Minister said the budget was ambitious but realistic, balanced and development-oriented, with thrust on all areas, including social housing for the lower income group (LIG) and the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), for which Rs 10.24 crore had been earmarked. Giving details, the PUDA Chief Administrator, Mr K.B.S. Sidhu, said the authority expected capital receipts of Rs 292.43 crore in the forthcoming year, apart from revenue receipts of Rs 65.96 crore. To this was added the expected opening balance of Rs 91.30 crore as on April 1, 2001, which was mainly attributable to the application money in respect of residential plots in the five new sectors at SAS Nagar. A striking feature of the budget was an increase in the revenue receipts from the current year’s figure of Rs 56.42 crore to Rs 65.96 crore, a rise of 10.09 per cent. Interestingly, capital receipts were down from Rs 348.80 crore for the current year, to Rs 292.43 crore proposed for the year 2001-2002. This was on account of reducing recourse to borrowings. In the current year, Rs 118 crore was expected to be borrowed from banks/financial institutions to meet the land acquisition cost at SAS Nagar and another Rs 20 crore from HUDCO against government properties under the Optimum Utilisation of Government Lands scheme. As against this, only a notional amount of Rs 10 crore was expected to be borrowed for the acquisition of land at Sultanpur Lodhi and Anandpur Sahib. In other words, ambitious development works connected with the five new sectors at SAS Nagar amounting over Rs 120 crore would be funded out of the internal accruals, institutional borrowings or the application money of the successful applicants. On the expenditure side, capital investment marked an increase of 25 per cent from Rs 310.98 crore to Rs 388.65 crore. The bulk of the expenditure side is dedicated to investment in the new and existing urban estate (Rs 164 crore), out of which Rs 120 crore is meant for the five new sectors at SAS Nagar. Similarly, Rs 104.92 crore has been allocated for the construction of new district administrative complexes. An amount of Rs 33.29 crore will be spent on the development of various government lands, particularly the proposed urban estates at Malilpur, Pathankot and along the Upper Bari Doab Canal at Amritsar. The revenue expenses marked an increase of Rs 17.47 crore from the current year’s figure of Rs 38.13 core to the proposed figure of Rs 55.6 crore. This was mainly on account of the annual interest burden of Rs 13 crore relating to institutional borrowing to fund land acquisition at SAS Nagar. Apart from this, Rs 6.48 crore has been earmarked for the construction of new bus stands, a sports complex (Moga) and the development of land for the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences at Jalandhar. A provision of Rs 5 crore has also been made to take care of the contingency relating to the enhancement of the land acquisition amount through the intervention of courts. The authority also adopted the annual audited accounts for the year 1999-2000, exhibiting a net profit of Rs 25.02 crore, against the previous year’s figure of Rs 23.76 crore. |
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Papers read on Guru Granth
Sahib Amritsar, February 27 Dr Manmohan Singh of USA delivering his lecture on “scriptural and experimental understanding of the nature of personal discovery of reality and universality” opined that scriptures are the “voice” and the “way”, but the seeker has to hear, understand and accept with his head and heart and learn to surrender his ego. Dr Jodh Singh of Patiala in his lecture on “dialogical human reality and Sri Guru Granth Sahib” said every object is considered perennially infused with spirit and hence the mystical songs of the rishis, the saints and the gurus. He said every object of the empirical world is trying to transcend itself in order to have realisation and mergence in the divine spirit. Dr Amar Singh Dhaliwal from Canada in his paper on “Sikhism stands founded on a scientifically sound footing” highlighted the most crucial and decisive questions is if Sikhism, or the Sikh way of life stands founded on a scientifically sound footing then why could it not become a globally and universally employable system of human-life? He mentioned five main causes of that type of failure. Dr Harbans Lal, Chairman, Academy of Guru Granth Studies, USA, while presenting his paper on the “healing power of altruism” said since “gurmat” (the path of the Guru) is about active meditation, this meant getting ready to engage oneself in the experience of one’s cosmic self in divinity. What this involves, he said, is actually giving up stress, hatred and letting go of the pain, revealing the hidden
tranquility. Tranquility is within, but hidden under the pressure of materialistic life style. Dr Darshan Singh of Chandigarh speaking on “gurbani’s concept of suffering” concluded that the suffering was a part of human existence and it was inherently placed in us. It was the product of one’s own action. Mr S.S. Dhanoa presented his paper on “nam simran as an interfaith unifier”, Dr Madanjit Kaur on “ecological concerns in Guru Granth Sahib”, Dr Maheep Singh on “singnificance and importance of Guru Granth Sahib”, Rev Travis Rejman on “focus on Sikh sacred writings and inter-religious dialogue”, Dr T.S. Rukhmani (Canada) on “Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the Upanishads: some parallel concepts”, Dr Harjinder Singh Dhillon on “Sufi view of world spirituality in Sri Guru Granth Sahib” and Mr Balwant Singh Hansra on “Sri Guru Granth Sahib to world parliament of religions”. Dr S.C. Sachdeva of Sonepat in his paper on “Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the Vedas: a comparative study” said the “bani” of Guru Granth Sahib was basically secular, democratic and meant for the whole human race. Rev Elizabeth Esperson, consultant, inter-religious affairs, Dallas (USA), speaking on “interfaith movement: call of a larger god” said genuine inter-religious dialogue and cooperative action would be necessary. She felt the need for a new preception, a shift of paradigms, the gift of discernment in our thinking and our values. Dr K.P. Aggarwal, secretary-general of the Crime Prevention Society, Lucknow, in his lecture on “incarnated (sagun) and omnipresent (parbrahm) forms of Hari, Ram and Krishna in Sri Guru Granth Sahib manifest omnipresent (parbrahm) and also incarnated (Sagun) God”. On the second day there were five sessions. The session were held at BBK DAV College for Women, and at Khalsa College, Amritsar. A cultural and devotional evening was held at Guru Nanak Bhavan auditorium. In the evening a roundtable discussion of issues in globalisation of Guru Granth Sahib was held. |
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Olympian Balbir, others cleared for
promotion Chandigarh, February 27 Mr Balbir Singh, who represented the country at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and is due to retire tomorrow on attaining superannuation, along with other officers of the 1987 batch, may get promotion with retrospective effect. Once approved, he would become the first hockey Olympian to rise to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General. The Chief Secretary, Mr Naresh Kumar Arora, presided over the meeting which was attended by the Principal Secretary, Home, Mr Bikramjit Singh, and the Director-General of Police, Mr Sarabjit Singh. The recommendations of the committee will be forwarded to the state government for formal acceptance. Once these promotions are through, the number of DIGs in the Punjab police will rise to 26 while the number of Inspectors-General will go up to 20. The DPC formally cleared all officers of the 1978 batch for promotion as Inspector-General. The beneficiaries will be Mr Rajan Gupta, Mr Sukhdial Singh Bhullar, Mr Parash Moni Das, Mr Paramjit Singh Sandhu and Mr Harsh Raj Chadha. Of these, Mr Sukhdial Singh Bhullar is due to retire on February 28 next year, while Mr Paramjit Singh Sandhu, at present Deputy Inspector-General, Ludhiana Range, will superannuate on May 31 this year. Mr Harsh Raj Chadha will get proforma promotion as he is on deputation with the Government of India. The DPC also cleared the names of all 1987 batch officers for promotion as Deputy Inspector-General. In fact of the six officers cleared for promotion, four are already holding charge as Deputy Inspector-General under the own-rank- and-pay scheme. Mr Dinkar Gupta is on study leave abroad. Mr C. Sita Rami Reddy, Mr M.K. Tewari and Mr Rajpal Meena are also holding charge as DIG. Mr V.K. Bhawra is on deputation with the Government of India. The remaining two officers — Mr Gurinderpal Singh and Mr Balbir Singh — are from the state police cadre and have also been cleared for promotion. Five officers of the 1988 batch — Mr R.C. Singh, Mr Prabodh Kumar, Mr Rohit Chaudhary, Mr Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota and Mr Gurdev Singh — have been cleared for the grant of the selection grade. Of these, Mr R.C. Singh and Mr Prabodh Kumar are on deputation with the Government. |
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DGP’s Commendation
Roll proposed Chandigarh, February 27 For this the authorities have proposed changes in the relevant police rules. The draft of the new rules has been sent to the Punjab Government for the necessary action. Drastic changes have been proposed in the chapter dealing with “rewards”. The proposal includes the awarding of a Director-General Disc along with the roll to the awardee. The proposal, according to informed sources, says that all recommendations for the roll received through the proper channel should be examined by a committee to be nominated by the Director-General comprising an Additional Director-General, an Inspector-General and a Deputy Inspector-General. This award has been introduced in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The sources said the Additional Director-General of Police, Mr Lalit Bhatia, and certain other officers were engaged in overhauling the Punjab Police Rules. All clauses which had become irrelevant would be omitted. The sources said that earlier only the head of the state police was authorised to issue Commendation Certificate Class-I, but under the draft the powers were to be given to an Additional Director-General of Police and an Inspector-General. The ADGP was to be empowered to sanction a cash award of upto Rs 12,500 and the IG upto Rs10,000 in each case. The draft says that DIGs should be empowered to give Commendation Certificate Class-II along with a cash award of upto Rs 5,000 in each case. For granting Commendation Certificate Class-III, the officers to be empowered are the district police chiefs, the commandant of an armed battalion or the head of a police unit of the rank of Superintendent of Police. They are to be given powers to recommend a cash award of Rs 3,000 in each case. The state government authorities have been requested to delete the paras pertaining to the pension of police employees from the existing police rules. As such employees are governed by the Civil Services Rules of the state government with regard to their pension, there is no need to retain the relevant paras. Instead, in the police rules the paras should be replaced with provisions of the Punjab Civil Services Rules. A change in the rules for the mounted police has also been proposed. There are certain clauses in the existing rules which have become redundant in the wake of changed circumstances. These should be deleted, it has been proposed. For horses, proper training on the Army pattern has been proposed. There should also be proper monitoring of the health of horses. An officer of the rank of ADGP should be in charge of such a force. Changes have also been proposed in the case property rules in the light of a high court judgement which says that such property should be kept in the custody of the judicial magistrate concerned. Likewise, changes in the rules pertaining to the role of the District Attorney in dealing with criminal cases vis-a-vis the police authorities have also been proposed. District Attorneys are answerable to District Magistrate in the case of failure in any criminal case while challans, etc, of the cases are putup by the police. The authorities in the police want that police officers should have some authority to direct the government law officers in the matter of handling of cases. |
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Police intervention averts
clash Bathinda, February 27 The conflict between the workers of the two unions could have turned serious had the police party not arrived in time at the godowns of the PSWC located on the Mansa road. Both parties, which were armed with lathis and other weapons, were urged to settle their issues through negotiations by the police. A number of trucks, which were loaded with rice, and had come from Rampura, returned without unloading their goods at the godowns. Informations gathered by the correspondent revealed that the godowns constructed by the PSWC were given on rent to the FCI authorities for storing rice. When the trucks reached the godowns, the union belonging to the PSWC claimed that it was their right to unload the bags of rice. On the other hand, the workers of the FCI labour union claimed that since the material belonged to the FCI, they had the right to handle the same in their own way. A verbal duel ensued which led to a heated exchange. The drivers of the trucks, apprehending danger to their vehicles, returned without unloading the bags of rice. Mr Kaka Singh, president, FCI Palledar Union, while talking to The Tribune, said the godowns belonging to the PSWC had been rented to the FCI for storing rice. He added that as milling and storing of paddy were being managed by the FCI authorities, therefore it was the right of the labourers of the FCI to unload the same from the trucks. He alleged that the PSWC union forced them not to unload the trucks loaded with rice. He added that the PSWC union also declined his offer of dividing the unloading work equally between the two unions. Mr Mukhtiar Singh, vice-president of the labour union belonging to the PSWC, said claims of the FCI labour union were false. He added that when the FCI had been allowed to store its rice in the godowns owned by the PSWC then it was the responsibility of the PSWC authorities to take care of the same. He added that the FCI responsibilities ended after it directed the millers about the place where the rice were to be stored. He added that all other tasks, including unloading and handling, were an exclusive domain of the labour union belonging to the PSWC. He added that they were threatened by the other union when they asked them not to unload the rice bags. The police authorities had summoned the leaders of both unions to the Sadar police station tomorrow for finding a solution to the problem. The representatives of both unions said they would follow the decision of the police and would work accordingly. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, February 27 SP summoned The High Court today directed Moga’s Superintendent of Police to be present in the court on March 5 for allegedly taking a casual stand in a petition seeking the quashing of a first information report registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Pronouncing the directions, Mr Justice Amar Dutt also directed the SP to verify the correctness of the averments made by the petitioner regarding an order passed by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission. Claiming to have been implicated, Shavinder Pal Puri of Moga district, in his petition, had earlier sought the quashing of the FIR. He had also quoted an order passed by the Human Rights Commission. Pleas dismissed The High Court dismissed a petition filed by Mr Mohinder Singh and two other Municipal Councillors of Bareta tehsil in Mansa district seeking directions for declaring as illegal the proceedings of a meeting vide which the elections of the president and the vice-president were held in a single meeting. Another petition filed by Mr Vidya Sagar of Khairi village in Thanesar district, challenging the setting aside of his elections by the election tribunal, was also dismissed. Both the orders were passed by Mr Justice Amar Bir Singh Gill and Mr Justice V.S.
Aggarwal. |
Cong, UCPI men flay Mamata Faridkot, February 27 They alleged that she had used the Budget to strengthen her own base and achieve political gains in the near future. They said this stance of regionalism was earlier adopted by the Union Telecommunication Minister, Mr Ram Bilas Paswan, while giving a priority to Bihar in providing better telecommunication services. The leaders said this type of trend of regional aspirations adopted by the Central ministers would weaken the Centre. This also might prove harmful to the unity of the country, they added. They urged Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee, to check such type of activities in the national interest. The leaders also assailed SAD MPs, allies in the NDA government for not expressing resentment over the failure of the Budget in not providing adequate railway facilities to Punjab. |
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Rly Budget: CM blamed for
neglect of Punjab Amritsar, February 27 She wondered if the bus owners-mafia were behind the failure. She said for years Punjabis had been demanding faster trains between Hardwar and Dehra Dun. They also demanded the Rajdhani to continue its journey to Amritsar from Mumbai. No efforts had been made by the Chief Minister in this direction, she lamented. “No suitable express connects Chandigarh to the most important city of Punjab that is Amritsar,” she said. There was a non-existent rail link between Amritsar-Kangra and Amritsar-Jammu, Ms Chawla added. |
Dhindsa favours
SAD-SHSAD merger Sangrur,
February 27 Favouring a merger instead of an alliance, Mr Dhindsa said one Akali Dal could not form an alliance with another. However, he declined to comment on the unity talks and the mediators saying that it could be disclosed only by Mr Parkash Singh Badal in his capacity as President of the SAD. Mr Dhindsa was talking to newspersons at the local PWD Rest House before leaving for Malerkotla. He said the SAD could have an understanding with any political party except the Congress which was its number one enemy. He said there was nothing wrong in having unity talks with the
SHSAD. Rinwa
expels Jagmohan Kaura Chandigarh Feb 27 |
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Art 370 binds Centre
to J&K: minister Jalandhar, February 27 Mr Harbans Singh, who was inducted in the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet by the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, to assuage the feelings of Sikhs after the recent massacre of six Sikhs in the valley, said Article 370 was the only bond between the Centre and the state and that of late this “fact” had been “realised” by the BJP-led government at the Centre inspite of the discordant notes struck by its alliance partners. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, the minister, who was here to meet editors of Jalandhar-based dailies, said though the ceasefire had worked well in conveying the message to the world that India wanted peace, it had encouraged militants on this side of the LoC. Lashing out at the Centre, he maintained that Kashmir had always been an experiment ground for the successive governments who were not practical in their approach. Mr Harbans Singh, who is part of the National Conference which is an alliance partner of the BJP, said except for the ceasefire, nothing much had been done by the BJP government to contain militancy as it had failed to chalk out a comprehensive plan in this direction. “We had been urging the Centre to create more employment avenues in the state to save youths from falling in to wrong hands, but nothing has come out of it except promises. Don’t they know that the entire tourism-based economy has already collapsed due to the prolonged turmoil,” he asked. He was candid in his approach when he said Article 370 could not be scrapped since it was the only strong bond between the Centre and the state. “Now the BJP has also a favourable approach towards the retention of the provision,” he said. Asserting that Dr Abdullah was the only leader who was capable of running the affairs of the state, Mr Harbans Singh said the Hurriyat Conference was not a force to reckon with and hence should not be involved in talks at any level. “You can judge it from the response of people to the Hurriyat’s call to boycott the recently conducted panchayat elections. People voted for their candidates in a big way,” he said. |
She sets example for
disabled Bathinda, February 27 Manmeet, who is running a beauty parlour in the city has proved that the disabled too have the ability to accept challenges and to set examples for others. Although she cannot communicate orally yet she has learnt artistic ways of communication. She is a good dancer and a painter too. She tries to communicate through her dance, painting and monoacting. She has developed what the nature has not given her. Married to an engineer, Manmeet did her matriculation from the school for deaf and dumb in Ludhiana. She does not feel that she is deaf and dumb as she can make other understand about her feelings. Her customer, too, do not feel any communication problems when they talk to her. She has now become teacher and imparts training to others. At present she earns Rs 10,000 per month, as she is the choice of most of the city girls. What made her popular among them is her sincerity towards her profession. She does everything very carefully and makes other feel good at her parlour which is in a posh area of the city-Model Town. She is very sensitive and imaginative. Her beautiful house speaks out what she has in her mind and heart, reflecting the ‘beauty’ of her mind. She does not have any regrets in the life. When contacted she said the lack of hearing and speaking faculties did not disappoint her. Her parents are the source of her inspiration, she added. She now has only one dream of going abroad. She wants to see the world and wants to know the people of other countries. Mr Hakam Singh, her father and principal of Government College, Sardulgarh and Mrs Baljinder Kaur, her mother, said that after three years of her birth, they came to know that she was unable to speak and hear. This disappointed them but they did not give up the hope. They provided full support to her and encouraged her to do whatever she wanted. |
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Ropar-Nangal rail track
electrified Ropar, February 27 The General Manager, Mr N.K. Chopra, started the traction substation at Anandpur Sahib. Later, addressing a press conference at Ropar, Mr Chopra said the section from Sirhind to Ropar was electrified earlier. Electric goods trains were running up to the Ropar Thermal Plant. With the commissioning of the current project, electric trains would run up to Nangal. Initially, goods trains would be run on the newly electrified track but soon passenger trains would follow. The electrification of this section had been executed by railway
electrification officials of Ambala division. The traction substation at Anandpur Sahib had been set up at a cost of Rs 3.11 crore. The power of feeding the substation had been drawn from the 132 kv PSEB substation at Anandpur Sahib. The track from Nangal to Una would also be electrified by March this year, he said. |
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PSEB men hold dharna
against demolition Sangrur, February 27 Earlier, the possession of the complex was taken over by the decree holders with the order of the court on February 23. But on February 24 on the application of the PSEB the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Sangrur, had directed Ms Pushpinder Kaur and others to maintain status quo till February 28 regarding construction at the
disputed property. The complex houses the offices of the M.E. subdivision, civil subdivision, complaint centre etc of the PSEB. The complex was in PSEB’s possession for the past several decades. The protesting employees criticised the state government and raised slogans against Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Surinder Singh Kairon as Ms Pushpinder Kaur is said to be a close relative of Mr Kairon. Mr Maninder Singh Sahni, vice-president of the PSEB Employees Federation (AITUC), Sangrur division, claimed that machinery and other material worth several lakhs of rupees lying in the stores had been damaged due to this. The different employees organisations of the PSEB has formed a coordination committee in this connection. Later, a memorandum was also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anirudh Tiwari, by the PSEB employees organisations in this regard. When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner said the administration would maintain law and order. Besides, no one would be allowed to violate law, he added. |
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Hospital selling expired medicines Bathinda, February 27 Ms Anita (name changed) in a complaint to the Civil Surgeon alleged that, she was given expired medicines prescribed by a dentist of the hospital, by the in-house dispensary of the hospital. Talking to this reporter she said she had gone to the hospital keeping in view its reputation, but was taken aback when she was given expired medicines. Showing the bills and the medicines she said she was given expired medicines repeatedly on February 17, 20, 22 and 27. Interestingly neither the medicine bills had a column for batch numbers nor were the numbers mentioned on the bills. The medicines had December 2000 as the expiry date. The dentist of the hospital said the patient had not shown her the medicines after purchasing the same from the dispensary in the hospital. She said if the patient had noticed any irregularity in the sale of medicines, the matter should have been reported to her immediately so that an appropriate action could have been taken in this regard. Dr Dawa Ram Gupta, Civil Surgeon, said the matter had been brought to his notice and added that an action would be taken against those found guilty. |
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Sterilise stray dogs:
experts Ludhiana, February 27 Experts from world over met here at Punjab Agricultural University yesterday to frame a national strategy to tackle this menace. Among them were Dr Michel Aubert, an expert on rabies from the World Health Organisation, Dr Christophe Magaud, Rabies Project Manager of Virbac Laboratories, France, Dr Jasbir Ralhan, Executive Director, Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai, Dr Shrikar from Mumbai, Dr Charan Kamal Singh from PAU and Dr A.K. Srivastva. They held a round table conference on the theme “National strategy for control of rabies in India”. The WHO has formulated a common strategy for control of rabies in Europe. Its expert shared the strategy with Indian experts. Dr Charan Kamal Singh said there was a lot of communication gap among the experts working on this field in the country. According to studies conducted so far, almost all wild animal harbour rabies virus. Despite such a large incidence of rabies in the country, there are many states without even a single rabies diagnostic laboratory whereas the population of stray animal, especially dogs, continues to grow at a rapid pace. And there is no purposeful exercise to control it. The only method to check it is to kill such animals. Experts have recommended that the first phase of the rabies control programme should be directed on the management of population of stray dogs. Data should be collected about their population, set ratio, age and relationship with humans. All pet owners, community dog owners and dog breeders should be registered and community and stray dogs should be sterilised. Efforts should be made upto village level to create awareness among the public about the danger of rabies from stray animal. There should be coordination among the departments of Agriculture, Forestry, Health, Animal Husbandry, Police, Municipality, Environment, Information, Rural and Urban Development, NGOs to tackle the problem. All pet dogs should be compulsorily vaccinated. All animals suspected for rabies should be referred to the regional rabies diagnostic laboratories, they suggested. |
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3-year search for
son Hoshiarpur: Talking to this correspondent, Mr Jagdish Kumar who sells vegetables in this town, said his son, was working with a firm Ganpati Trading Company, Old Hariana Adda, at Gaushala Bazar. The firm used to send him to collect payments and book orders for supply of commodities. On February 9, 1998, he was sent to Nangal to collect payments and book orders from various shopkeepers. The youth left home at about 8.30 a.m. and never returned. The father made enquiries with the partners of the firm, but they did not give any satisfactory reply. After searching everywhere, he lodged a report on March 11, 1998, at the Model Town police station. In a choked voice he said that whenever he contacted police officers, they just put him off on one pretext or the other. Mr Jagdish Kumar recently made a fresh representation to the SSP and had requested him to conduct a thorough inquiry by a senior police officer so that he may get “justice”. |
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Tubectomy deaths: SMO
suspended Sangrur, February 27 Reshma of Banarsi village and Sheela Devi of Shahpur Therri village had expired three-four days after the operation. The remaining nine women were admitted to the Sangrur Civil Hospital on December 7 and 8 in a serious condition. Later, seven of them were shifted to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. As per the official inquiry report, these nine women were infected due to improper sterilisation and not following rules at the time of the operations. Confirming the suspension of doctors and other staff members, Dr C.P. Bansal, Civil Surgeon, said Dr S.S. Joshi, SMO, Moonak (who performed the operations) Dr Parampal Singh, in charge of Khanauri health centre, a staff nurse and a class IV employee had been placed under suspension. However, about the auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) posted at Khanauri, Dr Bansal said he was not sure whether she had been suspended. He said he had received orders today of their suspension through fax from the Principal Secretary, Health, Punjab, Mr P.K. Verma. Dr Bansal said as Dr Joshi had been suspended, Dr G.L. Goyal had been posted in his place. He said the suspension orders to the persons concerned were being served. |
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Police patrolling
intensified Hoshiarpur, February 27 He appealed to the public to remain vigilant. Referring to the two looting incidents of Udasian deras at Tajpur near Hariana and at Lehli Kalan near Chabewal during the past two days. Mr Kalra said the looting at Tajpur dera was committed by migratory
labourers. |
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‘Women’s plight worrisome’ Bhagta Bhai Ka, February 27 She pointed out that in this male-dominated society the birth of a female child was least liked in a majority of the families. She said there were 927 women against 1,000 men in Punjab about two decades ago and now the number of women per 1,000 men had come down to 850. She added that these figures reflected the general attitude of the people towards women. She said every 47 minutes a woman was raped in the country adding that in Punjab, which had witnessed prosperity over the years, 50 per cent women were illiterate. Ms Madhu, another speaker, pointed out that crime against women was on the rise. Dr A.S. Kahlon, Principal of the college, and Mr Makhan Singh, Vice-Chairman of the college, also addressed the gathering. A cultural programme highlighting the plight of women was also organised by students. Fire destroys three
shops Phagwara, February 27 Fire fighting engines from Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur had to be requisitioned to control the fire. Fire brigade staff faught for about five hours to extinguish fire. They were helped by people from nearby historic Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi. Panic and pandemonium prevailed in the congested bazars as the flames threatened to engulf other shops in the vicinity. Short circuit is believed to have led to the ignition. |
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Palmist found dead Jalandhar, February 27 Rameshwar Tiwari, allegedly entered the shop of Mr Soma and started fiddling with some items, which raised suspicion in the mind of the latter. In the meantime, the servant of Mr Soma caught him and thrashed him. He was admitted to Civil Hospital by people who gathered on the spot. He escaped from the hospital yesterday and was found dead in the temple today. |
Centre’s project for farmers Faridkot, February 27 Under the scheme, strategic research and extensions plans will be formulated with the help of teams of agriculture experts, non-government organisations and agriculturists. At least 70 per cent members of the bodies will be taken from the farming community. This was stated by Dr T.S. Riar, state consultant, in the Union Agriculture Ministry, while speaking at a workshop held here today to apprise senior officers of the district, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, zonal research station, farm advisory committee and private organisations like Criffco and Iffco. He said four districts of Faridkot, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Sangrur had been chosen to motivate the plan. Initially the scheme will be implemented in two blocks of each district, Mr Riar said. The teams would work under the agriculture technology management agency headed by deputy commissioners of the respective districts. To mobilise the programme, the Union Government had allocated a grant of Rs 4 crore, out of which 20 lakh has been released to each
district. over the function. |
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Scientists shown benefits
of zero tillage Chandigarh, February 27 The success of this line was shown to a visiting team of scientists from the CIMMYT (centre for maize and wheat improvement, Mexico), the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi) and the Rice-Wheat Consortium, New Delhi, by Punjab’s Director of Agriculture, who took them around Panjoli Kalan, Bhattian and Ghungrali on Sunday. Under the zero tillage and bed planting techniques adopted by farmers in Punjab and Haryana there is a net saving of Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per acre. Besides, these help in the timely sowing of wheat. According to a press note issued by the Department of Agriculture, nearly 3,000 hectares of land has been covered under the zero tillage method and 350 hectares under bed plantation. There is a provision of Rs 5 lakh as subsidy for farmers at Rs 5,000 per machine. The visiting team included the CIMMYT Director-General, T.G. Reeves, Dr L.W. Harrington, Director, Natural Resources Group, Dr Peter R. Hobbs, South-Asia representative, and Scott Justice from the CIMMYT besides Dr J.S. Samra, Deputy Director-General, Natural Resources Management at the ICAR, and Dr R.K. Gupta, Regional Facilitator, Rice-Wheat Consortium. |
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Cotton assn seeks quality seeds Bathinda, February 27 Mr Sharma said in a statement issued here that after experimenting with many crops, farmers were again showing interest in cotton cultivation. He said after several years of slump, the cotton production had increased to 10 lakh bales this year. Favourable weather and improved quality of seeds were also responsible for the increase in production. In the past few years, the farmers sowed the generic varieties of cotton and it resulted in losses. It was due to the frequent sowing of the same seeds that there was a decline in the number of seedlings. Mr Sharma said the trend of sowing seeds produced from the earlier crops of hybrid seeds was risky as the seeds had greater chances of being attacked by pests resulting in lesser production. He said the prices of cotton ranged between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,300 per quintal last year. Good production due to use of hybrid seeds and good rates prevailing in the markets had ensured that the farmers would go for cotton cultivation even this year, he said. If spurious insecticides were not supplied, the state would again witness a record production of cotton, he said. If subsidies were ensured, it would further help the farmers. It would also help the farmers to meet the challenges posed by the WTO and GATT, he said. |
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Hay sellers facing
crisis Bathinda, February 27 Hay, which is the most common fodder of the cattle, is a by-product of the wheat crop. As Punjab is the leading wheat producer there is no dearth of wheat stock in the state, but as the profit margins for the
hay seller are declining fast it would be hard to find any seller in the city after some time. The daily sale of wheat
hay in the city is around 240 quintal and the price ranges between Rs 85 to Rs 90 per quintal.
Hay is sold mainly at Paras Ram Nagar, Thinkoni GT road and near Government Rajindra College. The maximum sale is at the government college point. The
hay sellers are mainly from nearby villages, like Kot Shamir, Gobind Pura, Jai Singhwala etc. Most of them are marginal farmers, and have their own tractor-trailors. Although there is no octroi on the wheat
hay yet the farmers complain of harassment at the hands of officers of the district administration, particularly the traffic police. At least 20 farmers come to the city daily to sell the
hay but at times do not find a single customer. Mr Darshan Singh of Gobindpura village said the profit margins had declined and production of
hay increased with the introduction of new machines. Now the farmers did not grow wheat for
hay and the cattle feeds sold by various companies had swept the market, he said. A city resident alleged the traffic police officers demanded bribes and even issued receipts having code language. Mr Lila Singh of Jai Singh Wala village alleged they were not allowed to meet senior officers of the district and their applications were not entertained. He said wheat
hay sellers did not have large land holdings. As they had no union or affiliation to any kisan union, the political leaders and parties consider them nothing more than vote banks, he lamented. |
MC elections postponed
again Maur Mandi, February 27 The elections, which were to be held tomorrow, had been postponed and March 7 fixed as the new date of elections, official sources said. Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr Vivek Aggarwal, who was the convener of the elections, would be in Chandigarh tomorrow in connection with a meeting being convened by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Keeping this in view the elections had been postponed, he added. These elections had become a major issue in the region as two Akali factions were divided over the choice of candidates for the post of the president and the vice-president of the municipal council. There were 14 councillors in the local municipal council and they were divided into two groups of seven each. Due to the even strength of both the groups being backed by two senior functionaries of the SAD the elections were being postponed repeatedly, sources said. In the situation, which had developed in the local municipal council in connection with the elections, the vote of Mr Harminder Singh Jassi, MLA, Talwandi Sabo, who belonged to the Congress and had the right to cast his vote in capacity of a legislator, had become decisive. Official sources said earlier, the elections were postponed on February 16 by the SDM-cum-Returning Officer, Mr Sukhminder Singh, who feared trouble when one of the councillor tore the ballot papers. After this incident, seven councillors approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court and managed to get personal security cover for themselves. The councillors belonging to one group apprehending danger to their lives, when contacted by TNS, said their security should be extended till the election process was over. They said the elections should not be postponed on flimsy grounds as it had created a law and order problem in the town. |
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Statistical Dept without
work Ropar, February 27 Since last 20 years the Statistical Department here has conducted just two surveys. According to the department employees they conducted a survey to identify weaker sections in 1980 and a party survey in 1994. Since then no survey has been conducted here. The only job for 19 employees posted here is to annually collect the secondary data from various departments at the district headquarters and pass it on to their head office in Chandigarh. The employees blame it on the shortage of funds staff. There are 25 sanctioned posts in the office here. However only 19 employees have been posted. Even the posts of the investigator or the research officer have been lying vacant. There are just three investigators in Ropar against the sanctioned posts of eight, they alleged. The district administration has also not allotted any fund for data collection since long. The surveys of the Central Government departments are conducted through school teachers. In case of the ongoing census operations, the services of the department have not been called for. Instead untrained teachers or the college lecturers have been asked to supervise the census work. In case of another survey to identify the below poverty line people living in the state the officials of the Revenue Department have been given the task to collect the data. This not only hampers the primary work of the departments involved in the data collections, but also effects the validity and reliability of the data collected. A senior official in the state Statistical Department who spoke on the condition of anonymity lamented that the state government was not making an optimum use of their department in planning. The decisions are taken on the basis of political considerations rather than the facts. There is also a lack of coordination between various state departments. Besides preparing or presenting the budget the data collected by the department is hardly used. If the other departments such as the revenue food and civil supplies, need any data they collect through their own employees rather than taking the expert services of statistical department, he said. A senior lecturer in economics here suggested that besides the government the district administration should also use the Statistical Department to collect data before planning development. The decisions in the planning boards should be taken on the basis of facts rather than the opinions of the offers concerned. The department should be used to randomly check if the data provided regarding the implementation of schemes or distribution of grants by various departments was authentic. It also has the potential of acting as an information centre for any individual or organisation coming to the district, he said. |
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‘Strong admn must for proper functioning’ Patiala This was stated by Mr R.N.Gupta, General Manager of theTribune Trust of Newspapers, while delivering a lecture on ‘Administrative reforms in India’ organised by the Department of Public Administration, Punjabi University here today. Mr Gupta said that though nothing great had been achieved as for as citizen’s rights were concerned, but the very induction of competition had ensured a better deal for the general public, especially in specific cutting-edge areas, such as telephones. He added that Railways may continue to be inefficient as ever, but there was no doubt about the tremendous improvement in ease of buying tickets or for making reservations due to the computerisation of the department. Mr Gupta further said that a possible reason for the non-implementation of the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission could be their holistic and comprehensive attitude. Advocating micro-level systematic reforms, Mr Gupta said that the need was for examining and analysing specific processes, activities and tasks leading to a particular outcome. In his presidential address, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor of the University said the retention and strengthening of the unitary structure of administration, a legacy of the British Colonial Raj, was a contradiction of the Nehruvian model of development, that had conceived of economic development as a means towards social justice. When in the post-Nehru Congress regimes at the centre, the concept of social justice was discarded, the in-built contradiction in the system of governance resulted in usurping of the goal setting role by the administration. |
Youth held for
murder Jalandhar, February 27 It was found that Deepak Kumar (20) of the same locality used to frequent the temple and was in the habit of taking drugs. Deepak was arrested by a police party from local Ravidass Chowk yesterday. Deepak admitted that he was on friendly terms with the deceased and used to take drugs. He had planned to loot money from the golak to meet his need of drugs. He confessed that after the priest went to bed after midnight on November 25 last year, he reached the first floor of the building. However, the priest woke up on hearing noise and questioned him about his presence at the late hours. He attacked the priest with a knife and slashed his throat. The priest died on the spot and Deepak took away Rs 2600 from the golak. The police has seized the knife and the rod used by the accused. |
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10 booked for threatening
man Bathinda, February 27 Police sources said a case under Sections 452, 341, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered
against Jagga and the others on a complaint of Mr Shiv Lal. Mr Shiv Lal, in his complaint lodged with the police, had alleged that on February 25 at about 8 pm Jagga and the others came into his hutment and started threatening him over some issues related to PUDA land. He was kept in his house and not allowed to go anywhere. He added that he was able to get himself released from their illegal confinement when two other residents — Mr Ganesh Ram and Mr Hari Ram — reached there and saved him. The sources said those against whom the case had been registered included Jagga, Hawai Ram, Devinder Ram, Bhau, Dasrat, Ram Brij Dass and Ramesh. Besides, some unknown persons who could be recognised by Mr Shiv Lal had also been booked. Mr Surinder Kapoor, a former minister, while talking to TNS alleged that the case had been registered against Jagga and the others on the diktats of a ruling politician of the area. He alleged that the police had failed to take action against Mr Hari Ram against whom the complaint was made by residents of Indra Awas Colony. He added that he had approached the district police authorities urging them to register a case against Mr Hari Ram instead of Jagga and the others. He said he would take up the matter with the higher police authorities and if need be, the Congress would also do the necessary bit in this connection. |
Baba Farid university Registrar
quits Faridkot, February 27 Dr Jesupadam is the fifth senior official of this university who has resigned in a span of less than two years Earlier, a former Vice-Chancellor, Dr L.S. Chawla, a former Registrar, Dr R.K. Raina, a former Dean of Faculty, Mr Malkiat Singh and a former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Mr H.P. Dua, have resigned from their offices citing various reasons. Sources said the university, which was about four years old, had been surrounded by various controversies. The resignations of senior officials in the past two years had hindered the progress of the university which was a dream project of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Though Dr Jesupadam refused to comment on the reasons for his resignation, it is learnt that he was compelled to do so. When this correspondent contacted Dr Jesupadam on the phone, he said: “First take the reaction of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.S. Gujral”. He added that after the reaction of Dr Gujral appeared in newspapers, he would come out with the reasons for his resignation with documentary proofs. He said it was not good to disclose the reasons to the Press at the moment. He added that he had submitted his resignation about two weeks ago but he was asked to continue by Dr Gujral. Meanwhile, Dr P.S. Sandhu has been appointed Registrar and he took charge yesterday. Dr Gujral said Dr Jesupadam was appointed OSD in the university and was given the additional charge of Registrar till the time a regular Registrar was not appointed by the Punjab Government. He added that now since a Registrar had been appointed, Dr Jesupadam had resigned as he did not want to work as OSD and might have got a better job elsewhere. Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that Dr Jesupadam was under pressure to make “some arrangements” for the entrance examination for postgraduation courses to be held by the university on March 4 to which he plainly refused. Besides, there was some resentment in the management of the university regarding the recruitment of various employees in the recent past. Meanwhile, senior doctors of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College here, on condition of anonymity, said repeated resignations by senior members of the university had destabilised its smooth functioning. They demanded that a high-level probe should be held into the affairs of the university so that its functioning could be streamlined. |
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VC: empower women through
education Ferozepore, February 27 He lauded the efforts of the Dev Samaj institutions worldwide in furthering the cause of women. Prof Pathak said the enrolment of women in higher education was showing an increase as it constituted 34.1 per cent of the total enrolment during the past couple of years.
He said women were now aspiring for new roles, adding that 80 per cent of women were
illiterate. He said the national policy of education had taken a broader view in enhancing the role of education in empowering
women. Prof Pathak conferred degrees on 1,000 graduates and honoured 80 girls with gold medals. |
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