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| Friday,
March 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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Giani Puran Singh shuns meeting Amritsar, March 15 However, SGPC chief Jagdev Singh
Talwandi, who was “special invitee” at the meeting, expressed hope that the issue of maryada would be resolved in the forthcoming meeting of the SGPC executive and the High Priests, scheduled to be held at Anandpur Sahib on March 22. Giani Joginder Singh
Vedanti, Jathedar, Akal Takht, admitted that the non-participation of Giani Puran Singh at the meetings was a serious matter. He, however, said the matter would be resolved as such issues took time. “All of us have been endeavouring to resolve the issue”, he said. Mr Talwandi clarified that the appointment of the two Granthis — Bhai Jagtar Singh and Bhai Jaswinder Singh — who were handed over the “seva” of the sanctum sanctorum today, was done on the recommendation of the Dharm Parchar Committee and the SGPC executive. He said both Sikh clergy and the SGPC had been working in coordination with each other. Though Giani Puran Singh has refused to attend the meetings of the Sikh clergy, saying that Prof Manjit Singh and Giani Kewal Singh, Jathedars of Kesgarh Sahib and Damdama Sahib, respectively and Giani Bhagwan Singh were excommunicated from the Sikh Panth through a hukamnama issued by him in his capacity as Jathedar of Akal Takht, he was seen with them during the installation ceremony of the two priests. However, Giani Puran Singh did not accompany the other High Priests to the Akal Takht secretariat, the venue for the meeting which was a few yards away from the function. Talking to the Press, Mr Talwandi said the unity of the Panth was the need of the hour but it could not be forged on preconditions. Replying to a question, he said all pending issues, including the controversy over the Dasam Granth or the Nanakshahi “jantri” would be resolved shortly as a joint meeting of the SGPC executive and the High Priests would constitute
sub-commitees in this regard. Mr Talwandi said Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, Secretary, SGPC who is due to retire this month, had not been given any extension so far. He said though the members of the Shiromani committee here against giving an extension to Dr Bachan, the final decision would be taken by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President, Shiromani Akali Dal, he also levelled serious charges against his predecessor Bibi Jagir Kaur. Meanwhile, Giani Joginder Singh
Talwara, chief of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha (parbandhki panchayan) has asked the SGPC to frame rules for the appointment of high priests. Though the kirtani jatha presented “dastar” (turban) to the newly-installed priests, Mr Talwara alleged that their “religious test” was not taken before their appointment. |
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A TRIBUNE FOLLOW-UP Amritsar, March 15 Ruling out leniency towards the owners, he said the massive covert operation could not have been undertaken without the connivance of political persons and corporation officials. He said these found guilty would be brought to book and action initiated
against them after the inquiry. Meanwhile, the multi-storey shopping plaza being secretly constructed behind closed doors of a former bank building was “demolished” in the morning today. Action was taken after a Tribune report dated March 15 highlighted the issue. The demolition of the walls and structure was done on the orders of the Joint Commissioner, Mr Gurwaryam Singh. Yesterday, the Mayor had called a complete halt to the construction underway at the complex. After verifying facts of non-submission of sanction plan of the commercial complex under construction, the Joint Commissioner admitted that the new owners who had bought the land last year from the bank owners after paying crores had “deliberately concealed ownership records” from the corporation. “There is no doubt that the owners Satish Vohra and probably four others had a secret deal with some low-rung corporation employees to carry on the construction covertly”, he said. The complete structure was demolished by a team of nearly 25 Corporation personnel in an operation that lasted for nearly three hours. The owners had subdivided the massive godown laterally and horizontally to carve nearly 40 shops out of which 19 structures were almost ready with wall enclosures. However it was seen that the former bank premises were double- chained and double-locked today and no one was let in when this correspondent visited the site today. According to the Joint Commissioner, the owners rolled in truckloads of building material in the “din of the night” and let in labourers in pairs to avoid suspicion. Later the labourers worked throughout the night under locked gates manned by two gatemen to avoid detection. Mr Des Raj,
SDO, was deputed today on the site on a daily-basis to keep vigil on the premises, claimed the Joint Commissioner. However no one was present at the site when it was visited today. |
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Anti-encroachment drive in Bathinda Bathinda, March 15 A senior officer of the municipal council said although the anti-encroachment drives had been launched in the past also but the intensity of the drive was never so high. This time the drive had been launched for a week, and all roads in the city would be covered in a phased manner. The drive has been appreciated by residents but not every one seems to be happy with the drive. Shopkeepers maintain that the municipal authorities were partial in the drive. A shopkeeper alleged that no notice was served to them to vacate the encroachments. “They just came and took away my hoardings, chairs, etc,” he said. The municipal officials were resisted to do their job at many places. Another shopkeeper said on one hand the municipal council was charging the “teh-bazari” from them and on the other hand they were being uprooted by them. They had been charging the “fee” for letting us occupy the space for years and now they were bent upon uprooting us, lamented another shopkeeper. Mr Kewal Krishan Aggrawal, general secretary, DCC, alleged that the municipal officials were selective in removing the day-markets from the city. “Even the generator sets, which creates a lot of noise pollution, emits foul gases and have blocked the entire footpaths at many place have not been removed,” he added. Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhullar, president municipal council, said the allegations of the day-marketeers were not right. The “teh-bazari” fee charged by the council was only an hourly-compromise fee and not a rent or a lease agreement. All areas of the city would be cleared of all encroachments without any partiality, he added. |
Kanshi Ram calls for ‘bahujan’ govt Ludhiana, March 15 Exhorting his party workers to prepare themselves for the elections, he said as long as the ‘bahujans’ did not get power themselves their lot would not be ameliorated. Addressing a public rally here today, the BSP leader said, “as long as corruption remains in the country, the ‘bahujans’ will never get power.” He claimed that the money collected by illegal means by various political parties is spent on purchasing the Dalit votes. Mr Kanshi Ram came down heavily on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for its alleged corrupt practices. He blamed it for the plight of the ‘bahujans’. As long as the ‘bahujans’ did not get the ‘master key’ (power at the Centre), their lot would remain unchanged. He described all parties as status quoists.' The BSP general secretary claimed that after the BJP leaders’ ‘corruption’ was exposed, there was a likelihood that the government would fall. Ruling out an alliance with any political party, she said the BSP would go it alone. She claimed that had the BSP not aligned with the Congress in 1996, it would have got at least 100 seats more. The BSP general secretary also alleged that the successive governments at the Centre had not provided the benefit of reservation to the Dalits. She claimed that there was a huge backlog of vacancies which remained unfulfilled during the past 50 years. Among those present were former MP and the state BSP president, Dr Mohan Singh Phalianwala, former MP Harbhajan Lal, MLA Shingara Ram Sahongra and Dr D.P.
Khosla. |
Love for Sanskrit made him translate ‘Gitanjali’ Ludhiana, March 15 The translation has been widely appreciated by critics. The translation, appropriately “Sanskrit Gitanjali”, has already bagged several awards in its first year of publication itself. Recently, it got an award from the Delhi Sanskrit Academy and has also been shortlisted for other prestigious awards. Born in Jind district Mahaveer Prasad Sharma has done his masters in Hindi and Sanskrit. He started composing Sanskrit verse at an early age. He is aware of the limited readership for his writing, yet he insists on writing in Sanskrit only. He believes. “There is a natural rhythm in Sanskrit language and it does not take much effort to create music out of words”. It is his intense love for Sanskrit that prompted him to translate “Gitanjali” into this language, fully knowing that there may not be many readers. “But whoever reads it, will read it seriously, feeling involved with it”, he remarks, claiming that Sanskrit is the language of the intellectual elite. Mahaveer Prasad is currently busy translating “Vijaypatram”, the Sanskrit translation of the “Zafarnama”, Guru Gobind Singh’s letter to Aurangzeb, from Persian to Sanskrit. Translation, particularly of a highly acclaimed literary work, is not a simple job. It requires deep and thorough knowledge and insight into different languages and literatures. “It is not just a translation, it is transliteration”, he pointed out. It took him several years to thoroughly study “Gitanjali” and then translate it into Sanskrit and that too in verse form. “Zafarnama” is also being translated in the verse form and may come out in print soon. Mahaveer Prasad has mastered seven languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Bangla, Persian, Urdu, English and Punjabi. Besides, he knows several dialects like Dogri, Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi and others. He also has a working knowledge of several other Indian languages like Marathi, Gujarati and Oriya. The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, who is himself an erudite Sanskrit and Bangla scholar, in his preface to “Sanskrit Gitanjali”, while lauding the efforts of Mahaveer Prasad, has termed it as a great service to both Sanskrit and Bangla languages because there was not a single translation of Tagore’s masterpiece in Sanskrit and that too in verse. Mr Shastri has remarked, “Mahaveer Prasad’s contribution will be remembered for ages to come.” |
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14 research papers presented Amritsar, March 15 Dr H.S. Virk, Director of Guru Nanak Dev University Earthquake Research Centre, in his paper on “Status of Earthquake Monitoring and Forecasting Studies in North-West Himalayas”, highlighted that long and intermediate term prediction of earthquakes had become possible but the short-term prediction was a real challenge for seismologists all over the world. Geochemical precursors were monitored in most of the countries to make short-term prediction. Dr Virk said, “Our programme is based on monitoring randon and helium, two rare gases, in North-West Himalayas, particularly the Kangra and Chamba valleys in close vincinity of Punjab, where our hydro-electric dams are located.” The university has set up seismic observatories at Thein Dam and Hoshiarpur to monitor micro-earthquake activity in Punjab. Strong motion recorders were installed at Amritsar and Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Mohali, to record ground motion, he added. In another paper presented on “Study of Earthquake Precursory in Central Asia” by Prof A.N. Sultankhodjaev of Tashkent (Uzbekistan), said high seismcity of Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, was due to geodynamic processes in the interior of the earth.” Professor Sultankhodjaev said the study of their variations allows revealing earthquake forerunners. Prof Paramesh Banerjee of Dehra Dun (Uttaranchal), Prof A.K. Mahajan, Prof Arun K. Gupta, Prof Yu-Hua Lang from Japan, Prof W.A. Mitchel (UK), Prof Alexander Strom (Russia) and Mr M.S. Rao from the National Informatics
Centre, New Delhi, also presented their papers. |
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Rural Focal
Point Scheme flops Malerkotla, March 15 A total of 59 focal points have been developed in the district for setting up industry by the District Industries Centre, Malerkotla. This scheme was started in 1998 and in three years, only 122 out of thousands of plots have been sanctioned by the authorities. The reason behind the less number of entrepreneurs is said to be less publicity and lack of basic amenities at the focal points. The entrepreneurs say the authorities have not even provided electricity connections at the focal points. However, at the time of allotment, they had promised to provide electricity connections to these industries on a priority basis. Even the banks have refused to sanction loans to the entrepreneurs for setting up industry. |
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Khalsa Diwan
former president arrested Bathinda, March 15 Mr Mithoo, reportedly was booked by the police and removed from his post some years ago for large-scale financial bungling. The Khalsa Diwan runs the Khalsa college and school, as well as the Singh Sabha gurdwara in the city. The police said it had received a complaint that a group led by Mr Mithoo was using offensive language, disrupting the examination and terrorising the teachers on duty. A police party reached the spot and apprehended 11 persons in this connection. A case has been registered. |
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10 lakh for drug
deaddiction centre Bathinda, March 15 He was presiding over a meeting of members of the District Red Cross yesterday. He added that the administration had received Rs 5 lakh in this connection and the remaining amount would be given by the state government. Mr Jaspal Singh further said deaddiction camps would be held in various villages of the district in the coming days. He said the subdivisional magistrates (SDMs) had been asked to hold regular check-ups of the chemist shops in their respective regions so that nobody should sell the banned drugs. These steps had been taken in order to check the spread of the abuse of the drugs in the district, he added. He also said AIDS awareness camps would be organised in various villages in the coming days. He said a special campaign would be launched against the disease. He said the District Education Officers had been given the instructions to install boards, bulletins etc in the schools in order to create awareness among the children. Officials of the Health Department had been asked to put up banners regarding the spread of the disease and take if possible preventive measures. He said the District Transport Officer had been asked that the message about the disease should be displayed on the trucks in the local language. |
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Drug
de-addiction centre opened Chunni Kalan, March 15 The institute, which is the brainchild of Dr Castro, will open more wards. The minister appreciated the efforts of Dr Castro and expressed his confidence that with homoeopathic medical drug and alcohol addicts would be reformed. He also donated Rs 50,000 to the institute. The
institute is affiliated to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences,
Faridkot, Punjab. |
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Consumers ‘unaware’ of rights Abohar, March 15 Mr Mahesh Chander Bajaj, senior marketing officer, gave tips on quality control. An exhibition of Agmark products manufactured in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh was held. The stalls put up by companies attracted the crowd. Mr A.K. Singh from Amritsar, Mr R.R. Rathore from Chandigarh and Mr G.M. Girdhar, marketing officer, spoke at the function. A seminar was organised by the Consumers Movement, a voluntary organisation, at the town hall. This was presided over by Mr Gaurishankar Khatri, an industrialist and environmentalist. Mr H.R. Gandhar, Principal, DAV College, Mr Aad Lal Jakhar, state president, INLD, Mr M.D. Hiteshi, a former bank manager, Mr Rajpal Sachdeva, a former SDE, Mr Raj Sadosh, former president, Lions Club, Mr Satpal Khariwal, Chairman, and Mr Vijay Golcha, Director of the Consumers Movement, were among those who discussed various aspects of the consumers protection Act. They said the Act had come into force in 1986 but consumers were still not aware about it because more than 45 per cent of the population was still illiterate. Mr Khariwal quoted some cases which had been decided in favour of the consumers by the National Consumers Commission, determining that medical profession and education also came under the preview of the consumers Act. He alleged that the local municipal council had not deposited instalments against LIC policies of the employees even when the amount was deducted from their salaries. The Movement would file a complaint with the District Consumers Forum, he said. The working of the municipal council also came under fire from other speakers also who said the council had failed in providing basic amenities to tax payers. |
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Kande is President of
IMA, Punjab Sangrur, March 15 A spokesman of the association said here yesterday that Dr Surinder Singla, secretary of the Sangrur unit of the IMA, had been unanimously elected senior vice-president of the Punjab unit of the IMA, while Dr Chander Parkash from Jagraon had been elected vice-president of the association. |
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Dharna against manhandling Amritsar, March 15 SAD (A) members were protesting against the manhandling of a Sikh couple on the Frontier Mail on March 3 by some Army personnel of the Madras Regiment. In a press note, the members demanded disciplinary action against the accused. |
Tehelka’s work hailed Bathinda, March 15 |
BTFK militant arrested Amritsar, March 15 Mr Loknath Angra, chief of Majitha district police, which made the arrest yesterday, told mediapersons here that one .315 bore pistol along with three live cartridges was recovered from Pargat Singh. Pargat Singh was a close associate of one of Punjab’s most dreaded terrorists, Satnam Singh alias Satta, who was killed in an encounter five years back, he alleged. The SSP claimed that Pargat Singh had gone into hiding after his associates were wiped out in police encounters and it was only recently that he had returned to Punjab. Mr Angra said Pargat Singh during interrogation admitted his involvement in a number of
crimes. UNI |
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Cops told
to surrender Patiala, March 15 Meanwhile, the court has given the accused time till March 21 to file regular bail applications in the case. The DIG (Patiala range), Mr Sanjiv Gupta, was earlier granted bail in the same case. Police officers have been accused of hatching a conspiracy to illegally detain and subsequently eliminate Sukhdev Singh in 1993. On a bail application moved by Sukhdev Singh’s wife, Ms Kamaljit Kaur, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked the CBI to conduct an inquiry. The CBI said Sukha was called to the Sohana police station in Ropar district and was later detained in the CIA police station in Ropar. |
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A novel
theft! Jalandhar, March 15 The victim was the space scientist-turned-Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University, Dr H.S. Gurm. Dr Gurm had hundreds of precious books and journals in his house at his ancestral village, Jhabbewal in Ludhiana district, where the thieves struck on Tuesday night. When his wife informed him about the incident, Dr Gurm’s reaction was, “Are my books there?” “Yes”, was the answer. |
Four booked in cheating case Kharar, March 15 According to an FIR lodged with the Kharar police, Ms Vidya Wati of Khuda Ali Sher said she planned to send her son, Naresh, to USA for further studies and a deal was reached on March 29 last year with the accused. A sum of Rs 5 lakh was allegedly paid on April 2 and the balance amount of Rs 3.4 lakh was given on April 9. Her son was to be sent abroad on May 7, but the accused did not do as promised. The accused did not return the money as per their word. The Kharar police has registered a case. |
Ram Dass institute
concealing facts: staff Amritsar, March 15 However, it is being alleged by employees of the institute that the institute will show the vacant posts as filled. Two posts in the basic departments of physiology and microbiology will reportedly be vacant by the month-end. A professor of pharmacology who had exceeded the age of retirement is still being presented as a teacher. However, efforts are on to conceal these facts, they alleged. The Principal of the institute, Dr U.S. Dhaliwal, is running a private nursing home. Dr Dhaliwal admitted of his private practice and said it was not against the rules of the institute. Professors of the department of ENT, skin and paediatrics who were working as part-time professors and were running private clinics, were being shown as regulars, they said. Half of the posts of paramedical staff were lying vacant, the hospital staff is being paid less. Besides no HRA, FMA or other allowances were being given. Dr Dhaliwal, however, said a loan of Rs 75 lakh had recently been extended to the institute by the SGPC to give enhanced wages to the employees. In addition to that, an order had already been placed for equipment at the cost of Rs 1 crore for the institute. |
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Students unable to take exam Bathinda, March 15 The students had not received the roll number slips before the start of the exam and when they enquired about these from the local office of the board, their queries were not entertained. The students were told that the board had not received the application forms and the fee of the students, therefore the staff could not help them. The students also approached the officials of the board at Mohali. The board ordered an inquiry into the case and for this purpose deputed Mr Jagjit Singh Sidhu, Secretary of the board, who visited the city today. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Sidhu said that he had sent his report to the higher authorities of the board after listening to the complaints of the students. He said that as per the complaints, there were three categories of students who had not received the roll numbers. He claimed that in some application forms there were discrepancies and the board was not responsible for this. He said that there were only a few cases in which the students faced problems due to the failure on part of the employees of the board. He added that such cases would be considered
sympathetically and could be given a special chance to sit in the examination. Mr Sidhu said that in some cases, the students had deposited their application forms and fee with some booksellers and had not received the receipt of the board. Again, the board should not be held responsible for this, he said. If any employee of the board was found guilty of not issuing roll numbers after collecting the fee from students he would be punished as per the rules of the board, he said. |
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‘Vidya bandh’ in Punjab on March 27 Barnala, March 15 According to Prof K.B.S. Sodhi and Prof Charanjit Chawla, president and general secretary, respectively, of the PCCTU, the executive committee of the union decided in its meeting at Barnala to observe “vidya bandh” and march towards the Punjab Assembly, denouncing the unhelpful and bureaucratic attitude of Punjab officials in resolving issues like grant of pension, gratuity benefits to private college teachers and other pending issues. The leaders said all private college teachers in Punjab would take mass casual leave and assemble in the Parade Ground at Chandigarh to march towards the Punjab Assembly. |
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3 rusticated for copying Fazilka, March 15 During the checking Shagan Lal, Rockey and Surinder Kumar were found copying and copying material was seized from their possession. All have been rusticated. Besides them, centre supervisor Ved Parkash, a teacher at Government Primary School, Jhariwala, was found involved in copying. Some incriminating material was seized from his possession. Mr Brar immediately relieved him of his duties and warned the centre superintendent in this regard. He said action would be taken against the erring supervisor in accordance with the rules. |
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