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May 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Group declares Didar Singh WSC chief Amritsar, May 13 This decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the parallel group of the WSC held in Chandigarh even as Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar, Akal Takht, had directed the office-bearers of both warring factions to present themselves before the high priests tomorrow to resolve the three- year-old deadlock. Mr Jaswant Singh Mann and Dr Puran Singh Jassi, both members of the 12-member executive committee of the WSC, announced by the then Jathedar, Akal Takht, Giani Puran Singh, disclosed that they had to take this decision as the five high priests were inclined to accord recognition to Justice Kuldip Singh (retd) as President of the WSC. They said despite the directives of Akal Takht, Justice Kuldip Singh had expressed his inability to work in the 12-member committee. He (Justice Kuldip Singh), however, continued to work as Chairman of the WSC even after it was dissolved by the then Jathedar of Akali Takht. The meeting, which decided to elect Mr Bains as President of the parallel WSC included Giani Bachiter Singh, Dr Darshan Singh, Mr Mann, Dr Jassi and Mr Talib Singh Sandhu — all members of the 12-member committee. Mr Mann claimed that they had sought the consent of Mr Didar Singh Bains before electing him as President of the WSC. He claimed that they had also got the consent of Mr Avtar Singh Hit, president of the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee. |
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CM leaves it to Bhindranwale’s
kin Amritsar, May 13 Mr Badal, who addressed a press conference here today during his day-long sangat darshan tour of the Assembly constituency organised by the Punjab Health Minister, Dr Baldev Chawla, said he would not like to comment on any controversial issue which could disturb peace in Punjab. He was also non-commital about attending the proposed martyrdom day celebrations of Sant Bhindranwale in the first week of June at Akal Takht being organised by certain Sikh organisations. Commenting on the poll reverses suffered by the NDA in the state Assembly where results have come today, Mr Badal said the debacle would not have any impact on the SAD-BJP ties or on the Punjab Assembly poll. Mr Badal, however, evaded a direct reply on the probable date for the Punjab elections. Many Congressmen predict an early poll and feel the sangat darshan programme is a prelude to the poll preparations. Mr Badal said no one would be permitted to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the state and the district administration would take all necessary steps to maintain peace during “Ghallughara divas” on June 6 which coincides with Operation Bluestar. The divas is observed every year by holding a religious function at Akal Takht here in the memory of those who died while fighting the Army which was sent to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex in June, 1984. The Chief Minister said forces from across the border were making attempts to destablise the country but this would not be allowed. “A heavy price was paid by the Punjabis and then only did peace return here”, he said when asked to comment on an interview he gave to BBC in June, 1984, asking the Sikhs to revolt against the government. The Chief Minister disclosed that he would be meeting the Prime Minister on May 18 to request for more financial assistance from the Centre for executing development projects in the state. During the sangat darshan programme Mr Badal met a large number of people and listened to their grievances and directed the officials
concerned to solve their problems. He also announced a number of development projects. |
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‘Sangat darshan unconstitutional’ Bathinda, May 13 Mr Justice Ranganath Mishar, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (retd) and Chairman, human rights wing of the Congress (HRWC), Mr Umrao Singh, state president of the wing and Mr Harbans Singh Sidhu, district president of the wing, in a press conference here today said Mr Badal should not do the job of the block development officer. Justice Mishar said the main motive of the HRWC was to make the party members and the people aware of their rights. He said the politics should not take the centre stage if any incident of violation of human rights take place. Commenting upon the ’84 anti Sikh riots he said these should be condemned by all said the whole community should not be punished for the wrong-doings of some persons. He said he had suggested to the party high command that those leaders who were allegedly involved in the riots should not be given any position in the party. He agreed that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) could work more efficiently if it was given more powers. He said that in some cases it could happen that the police give wrong information after investigating a case on the instructions of the NHRC for saving someone. Mr Umrao Singh said the amnesty given to some terrorists in Punjab was violation of human rights. He alleged that there was a nexus between the ruling politicians, bureaucrats and the criminals. He alleged that the politically motivated crime was on rise in Punjab due to the wrong policies of the ruling government. He said Chief Minister was centralising powers. He alleged that the money was being wasted for non-performing projects which were granted by the Chief Minister. He added that the Chief Minister had acquired the work of all ministers of his Cabinet. Mr Umrao Singh said the state government was giving wrong information regarding the procurement of wheat. He said the government did not have the money to pay to the farmers for purchasing the wheat. He said it also accounted to the violation of the human rights as the farmers were not given their due. Mr Harbans Singh Sidhu said the district unit of the wing was doing its best to check the violation of the human rights in the district. Later the three leaders participated in a convention on human rights held in the city. |
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Dullo flays CM’s
sangat darshans Kharar, May 13 He said this while talking to mediapersons here today. He said workers of opposition parties were not being allowed to visit to sangat darshan and if anyone reached there he was not allowed to meet Mr Badal. He said a deputation of Khanna residents wanted to meet Mr Badal in connection with a murder case but were not allowed to meet him at Khamanon Mr Dullo alleged that MLA’s in the state were being ignored and grants were being disbursed as per the desires of Jathedars of the SAD. He said on the one hand the old-age and widow pensions were not being disbursed and on the other hand he was distributing grants now by having an eye on the coming elections. He said the government had collected the money by selling government properties. The leader
alleged that pick and choose policy was being adopted by Mr Badal in
these programmes so far as grants were concerned.
Grant more powers to rights panels:
Misra Kapurthala, May 13 Talking to newspersons last evening, Justice Misra said he was pained to see that people were not exercising their rights and duties provided under the Constitution. Because of lack of knowledge of their rights and duties, litigation in courts had increased manifold in the country, he said. He disclosed that five crore cases were pending in lower courts. As many as 21 lakh cases were pending in the Allahabad High Court while a 32-year-old case was still pending in the Mumbai High Court. He said there were 27,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court. He appreciated the move of the Supreme Court for holding courts in the evenings to dispose of the cases. Later, addressing a conference, Justice Misra said 10 basic human rights were adopted by the UN in 1948 which had also been adopted by our Constitution through an amendment in 1977. Justice Misra said he was touring the country to create awareness among people about their rights and duties. Mr Umrao Singh, President of the State Human Rights Commission, termed the four-year Akali regime in the state as destructive which witnessed atrocities on Dalits, increase in crime, corruption and unemployment. He announced the setting up of a district branch of the commission with Mr Malwinder Singh as its president. Mr R.S. Dhillon, advocate, Mr Lakhbir Singh Pelia, president of the District Bar Association, Mr A.K. Sood, member of the AICC, Mr Malwinder Singh Chahal, Mr Rajan Bir Singh, organising secretary, PPCC, and Mr Milkhi Ram Rattan, a former member of the AICC, addressed the function. A rousing reception was given to Justice Misra by members of the Bar Association, industrialists, farmers and Youth Congress workers. Mementoes and shawls were presented to him. PHAGWARA: Justice Misra on Saturday night advocated granting more powers to national and state human rights commissions. However, a lot could be accomplished in the present framework of powers, he told newspersons here. Justice Misra, who had probed the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, said there was a collusion between the police and rioters but the recommendations of his report were not fully implemented. He alleged that both militants and security forces were violating human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the militants were committing more violations than the security forces. |
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Punjab’s
Web sites for
misinformation Chandigarh, May 13 *Mr Rajmohinder Singh Majitha and Mr Barjinder Singh Hamdard are members of the Rajya Sabha. * Mr Sube Singh is a DGP and Mr K.K. Sharma is an Additional DGP in Punjab. These startling, though misleading, pieces of information can be downloaded from the Punjab Government’s official telephone directory on the home page of the National Informatics Centre’s website (www.nic.in). Intriguingly, Mr Parkash Singh Majitha died after a prolonged illness in January this year. Mr Rajmohinder Singh Majitha has not only been elected in the subsequent byelection held on February 19 but has already participated in the last Budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He resigned from the Rajya Sabha before taking the oath as an MLA from Majitha. Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in place of Mr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, has been attending the Budget session of Parliament. Mr Sube Singh retired from the Punjab police early this year. So did Mr K.K. Sharma. A number of other police officers have been promoted and given new postings, but the information on the NIC home page is incorrect. The same is the story about IAS officers. If this official directory is to be believed, Mr Rajesh Chabbra continues to be the Home Secretary. Another senior officer has also been shown as the Home Secretary of Punjab while in reality it is Mr Bikramjit Singh who has been in charge of the Home Department. This is not an isolated incident of official apathy towards the regular updating of information on official websites. A random survey conducted by The Tribune of some of the websites shows that the state has taken upon itself the responsibility of “misinforming” rather than “informing” people through its websites? The Punjab State Electricity Board, one of the “heavily overstaffed organisations” in the state, had its website update on September 11, 1999. The circulars posted on the web page of the board are of 1998 vintage. “Was this the purpose of launching this website ?” The case of the much-publicised Anandpur Sahib Urban Development Authority (ASUDA) is no different. The website of the authority was last updated on March 7, 2000. It was on June 21 last year that the official website of the Anandpur Sahib Foundation was updated. A visit to the website of the Punjab Mandi Board is equally disappointing. It was also last updated some time in the first half of last year. Interestingly, at the time of the launch of these websites, the departments concerned had made big claims about providing people the latest information on their respective organisations and departments. But after much fanfare at the time of inauguration, little attention has been paid to maintaining these websites. The results are obvious. These are not only a drain on the finances of the fund-starved state government but also paint a poor image of the state whose political and bureaucratic leadership still brags about making Punjab the number one state in the area of information technology. |
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EVMs can be fudged, Capt Amarinder Patiala, May 13 Addressing a press conference at his Moti Bagh residence here today, the PPCC chief said that the facts regarding tampering of EVMs were telecast on Zee News recently. Capt Amarinder Singh said that the EVMs could be fudged by either changing certain chips or replacing the mother board with another board, that was tuned to vote either in favour of or against a particular candidate. To underline his point, Capt Amarinder Singh showed clippings of the news recorded on a video cassette. Capt Amarinder Singh said that what had been stated by his party earlier regarding the possibility of tampering with the machines, had been proved by the telecast. The PPCC chief said, “Until a fool-proof system does not come into being, all votes should be hand counted”. When asked about the present condition of Punjab government, Capt Amarinder Singh said that elections were likely to be held soon because of the heavy rounds of sangat darshan by Mr Badal. Moreover, the paddy procurement season was arriving and to avoid the previous years’ ‘mistake’, Mr Badal would prefer an election. He said internal differences within the party rank and file notwithstanding at the state level, Congress stood united and their aim would be to ‘defeat Akalis and save Punjab’. He said that earlier, the state was in debt trap, but now the condition was on the brink of a disaster what with a total debt of Rs 58,000 crore and an expenditure of Rs 22,000 crore.
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College Director booked for
scam Jalandhar, May 13 The scam has come to light following a preliminary enquiry by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, which has already booked college Director Balwinder Singh, a resident of Court Road, Hoshiarpur, for embezzling Rs 3.52 lakh. The college management, according to the Vigilance Bureau, had to impart vocational training to students of different streams at Doglan, Bhogpur, Adampur, Alawalpur, Noormahal and Kapurthala under the Nehru Rozgar Yojna for which the Deputy Director had extended a grant of Rs 3.52 lakh in 1996. But the management allegedly failed to do the job and the money was drawn by it under ficticious students. During training, each trainee was entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 750, while the salary of the instructors had been fixed at Rs 3,000 per month. But the Director of the institute failed to give the money to either the students or the instructors. He did not even purchase equipment required for the training. Similarly, no vocational training was imparted by the college to girl students belonging to the seven nagar panchayats of Amritsar district, including Patti, Taran Tarn, Jandiala, Bhikiwind, Ajnala, Khemkaran and Rayya, even as a grant of Rs 2.5 lakh was withdrawn by Balwinder Singh, even made each student shall out Rs 30 for enabling them to undergo “training” for tailoring and sewing while no provision for training at the college centres was made. Balwinder Singh, has already been booked in four separate corruption cases, including one by the Hoshiarpur Vigilance Bureau in 1997. Maintaining that an exhaustive probe was being conducted into the utilisation of different grants by the college management, a senior Vigilance official said efforts were being made to arrest Balwinder Singh, who had abs- conded after registration of a case against him. |
Poster campaign against
minister Amritsar, May 13 Some posters read: “To facilitate transfers and promotions in the Health Department, to get
government jobs without official approval, to get grants for fictitious organisations or to make false medical bills, contact Dr Chawla’s agents.” The posters were found in the Shivalya Katra Bagian and Ram Bagh areas. Meanwhile, hundreds of pharmacists today gheraoed the residence of Dr Chawla in protest against the non-implementation of their demands. |
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‘Avoid consuming exposed eatables’ Phagwara, May 13 In view of growing cases of diarrhoea in summer, Dr Gill set up an emergency medical team on the direction of local SDM Pritam Singh. During checking of samples of foodstuff the team found negligence in use of clean utensils and drinking water by halwais, juice sellers, tea-stall owners, ice-cream vendors/ dhaba owners and chholey-bhature sellers. They were directed to use potassium permanganate 1:10,000 ratio solution for cleaning utensils and cover eatables, added the press note. |
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Programme on Sher-e-Punjab on May 16 Amritsar, May 13 Giving this information the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinderjit Singh, said that the programme would remain on view for the public from May 16 to May 19 in the evening at 8 p.m. Patiala, May 13 Besides this in the second phase of development, the administration will also increase the number of sound boxes and start dishing out old filmi songs in the evenings on popular demand. Neem and other herbal trees will also be planted in the sprawling gardens created by Maharaja Rajindra Singh in which various climatic zones have been created with the planting of specific trees and shrubs. The development of the gardens has evinced enthusiastic response from the people with ordinary people and children, who never earlier frequented the gardens, now making a beeline for them in the evenings. Early morning walkers have also been benefited with a latest move banning the movement of vehicles through roads
criss-crossing the gardens from five in the morning to eight’ o’ clock. Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir said it had been decided to close all small gates leading to the gardens with entry being restricted only through the main gate, which has been opened for the first time since 1962. He said besides this it had been decided to cover all kutcha roads in the gardens with red stone and increase the number of sound boxes which will relay devotional themes in the morning and old filmi songs in the evening. He said 26 more sound boxes along with corresponding lights were being installed under this scheme. Around 50 sound boxes have been installed earlier. It has also been decided to create a toilet each for both men and women in the gardens which has been the need of visiting people since a long time. Already temporary toilets have been installed but permanent ones with a base of concrete but otherwise made entirely of wood will be put up soon. Wood has been chosen to ensure the toilets are in consonance with the natural environment of the gardens. Wood again is the theme of the canteen which will come up in the premises of the gardens. It has been decided to establish a wooden hut which will offer refreshments and will be run by the District Red Cross. Proceeds from the canteen will be used for the further uplift of the gardens only. Swings and joy rides for kids are also on the line. Sources said a recent experiment under which some joy rides had been put up on a termporary basis in the gardens had been a huge success and it had been decided to install jhulas on a permanent basis in the gardens. A nominal fee will be charged from children using the swings which will be used for the maintenance.
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60 cases settled Pathankot, May 13 The lok adalats were presided over by Mr Naginderjit Singh, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Fateh Deep Singh, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Satwinder Singh, PCS, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) and Mr H.S. Dhaliwal, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gurdaspur. Out of 110 cases taken up, 60 were settled. |
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Freedom fighter cremated Pathankot, May 13 Mr Mohan Lal, Minister for Higher Education, and Mr Sham Behal, President, local Congress unit, were among those who attended the funeral. |
Shortage of bags
hits procurement Moga, May 13 Farmers added that wheat stocks in several markets in the district had piled up for want of gunny bags and if no arrangements were made the farmers would suffer heavy losses. Deputy Commissioner Kanwalbir Singh said that he had taken up this issue with the government. |
Doctor held for taking
bribe Jalandhar, May 13 Tarsem Singh, in his complaint to the bureau had alleged that Dr Jasbir Singh of the Nakodar’s Civil Hospital had been demanding a bribe of Rs 1,500 for signing the bills meant for reimbursement. Acting on his complaint, Mr Amrik Singh, DSP, along with the complainant caught the doctor redhanded while accepting a bribe in the presence of the BDPO (West) and two other gazetted officers. A case has been registered against the doctor. |
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NRI plots to kill wife’s ex-husband Kapurthala, May 13 According to a press note issued by Mrs Gurpreet Deo, Senior Superintendent of Police, today, Gurmeet Singh alias Geeta of Kalasanghia village married Gurdeep Kaur of Athula village, a divorcee from the UK and migrated there two years ago. Four months ago both of them came to Kalasanghia village where Gurmeet Singh hatched a conspiracy with his friend Charan Singh, a resident of Kairon village, Patti, to kill Rajwinder Singh, Gurdeep Kaur’s former husband and a resident of Dhade village in Jalandhar district. He had deserted Gurdeep Kaur, so to take revenge. Gurpreet Singh acquired the services of Charan Singh. Mrs Deo said Gurmeet Singh paid Rs 40,000 to Charan Singh in advance and offered to give him as much as he demanded on completion of the plan. With the advanced money, Charan Singh purchased a .12 bore gun from Prabhat Gun House, Patti. He made a call to Gurmeet Singh in the UK five days ago asking him to come to India to execute the plan. Gurmeet Singh came and stayed in a hotel in Jalandhar, where Charan Singh and his relative Harpal Singh met him. Gurmeet Singh gave them the signal to go ahead but before they could, the police got to know of the conspiracy. It arrested Charan Singh and Harpal Singh from a dhaba in Phagwara and seized the gun from them while Gurmeet Singh has absconded. The police has registered a case under the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act against Gurmeet Singh, Charan Singh and Harpal Singh. |
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Wife, daughter killed over money dispute Ludhiana, May 13 Mohinder Kaur 42 and her 17-year-old daughter Jasbir Kaur died on the spot after the farmer allegedly killed them in a fit of rage. He waited for the police to take him into custody. The Sidhar police has booked him for murder. According to the police, the incident took place at about 2 pm at the farmer’s house. Ajmer Singh in his statement said the tension prevailed in the house for the past several days as he and his second wife were fighting over one or the other family problem. He told the police that he had a son from his first wife who died several years ago. The major bone of contention between the farmer and his second wife was that he was not asking his son to repay the loan of Rs 60,000 that he had given to him. His wife was coercing him to get the money back. The farmer said he had tried to explain to his wife that he had given the money to his son and would not demand it back. This afternoon both had an argument over the same issue. He said he could not control his temper and began hitting his wife with an iron rod. The farmer told the police that his daughter intervened to save her mother but he was so furious that he hit her also. Both of them suffered fatal injuries on their head and face. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. |
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2 suicides in
Jalandhar Jalandhar, May 13 Manjider Singh (22), a resident of local Rattan Nagar, consumed celphos tablets at his residence. He was admitted to the local civil hospital, where he died in the afternoon, the police said. In another incident, Sukhdev Lal (32), a resident of Basti Sheikh, who was reportedly perturbed over the arrest of his wife in a murder case, consumed some pesticide in his home. He died on the spot. |
Move to sort out college
problems Chandigarh, May 13 Although the general agenda includes problems pertaining to the payment of less salary to duly selected teachers, starting of new courses, presence of teachers’ representatives and academicians on the college managing committees and non-implementation of the recommendations of inspection committee reports, specific cases of institutions like Master Tara Singh Memorial College, Ludhiana, DAV Centenary College, Jalalabad, RSD College, Ferozepore, Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, and DAV College, Garhshankar will also be taken up for discussion. Members of the faculty of Master Tara Singh Memorial College, Ludhiana, had complained of irregularities in the college’s functioning and their victimisation in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor in November, 2000. These teachers had alleged that the faculty was being harassed by the college principal in various ways like tampering with the attendance register, provoking students against the staff, irregular deposition of the management’s share of provident fund and non-payment for additional teaching work, etc. The college general secretary had, however, written to the Vice-Chancellor that the complaints by the staff members were baseless, giving reasons for the same and requesting the Vice-Chancellor for a thorough inquiry into the matter. Similarly, teachers of DAV Centenary College, Jalalabad, had gone on strike and complained to the president of the DAV College Managing Committee alleging non-payment of salaries as per the UGC scales. They had claimed that they were not being given the due DA of 38 per cent which teachers in other DAV Colleges enjoyed. Hoshiarpur, May 13 He said that All-India Vardhman Magika Embroidery contest, in its first phase would cover more than 100 schools from Punjab and Haryana. It is being done for four categories among classes VII, VIII, IX and X. Schools from Ambala, Karnal, Chandigarh, Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur are participating in this contest. The contest already started from May 8 would conclude by May 29. Winners of the contest would be given on the spot prizes from the company. The embroidery contest is in continuation with the knitting contest organised by Vardhman in which 25000 students from 100 schools all over Punjab had participated, he added. He said that Vardhman is committed to preserve traditional arts and skills of India.
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3 food parks to be set up in Punjab Moga, May 13 The first such food park will be established at Fatehgarh Sahib, the second at Amritsar and the third one either at Ferozepore or Moga district. This was disclosed by Mr Karnail Singh, Pir Mohammed, Director Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, told reporters here yesterday. Each such food park would cost Rs 15 crore.
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